Cursed
by Born From a NaruSaku Lemon
Summary: Sakura finds that her life is getting a little too repetitive for her liking and wishes for something exciting to happen. But, when she gets her wish, will she regret it? NaruSaku. Dark high school fic.
1. Chapter 1

AN/ Dammit, nothing's coming to me for my other stories but new story ideas are coming to me left and right. This is just one of the several that keeps bugging for me to write it. That and I think a couple are pretty good.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, much to Sakura's dismay. Don't worry, Sakura will get him eventually.

"Speech"

_'Thought'_

_**'To Be Revealed'**_

**Cursed**

Konoha High. It was one of the only five high schools in Shinobi county — the others being Suna, Ame, Kiri and Kumo —with each school named after the district in which they resided in. Being that Konoha was considered the better of the five schools, followed closely byKumo and Suna, because of statistics (test grades, athletic and academic achievements, etc. etc.), children who grew up in Shinobi had a one in five chance of making it into the school.

Parents, wanting their children to get the best education possible, usually checked Konoha off first when it came time for their kids to go to high school. Although there was a one in five chance that a kid could get in, it was greater if they had gone to Konoha Junior High, as was true with the other schools and their own Junior High.

Children, however, just hoped that they remained with their friends. The chance of this happening was better than switching school lines. To them, at that part of their lives, friends were more important than school, most of the time.

Either way, whatever school kids got into, it was really the same. The same classes, the same activities, the same rules, almost everything was the same. So day by day, kids went around doing almost the same thing every day. And almost every kid shared the same thought about that fact. School was boring.

There was one such person that was getting increasingly frustrated from doing the same thing over and over. It was so frustrating that it had the person wishing something out of the norm would happen for once more than she used to wish she had a normal hair color.

_'Honestly, how is pink natural?'_ thought Sakura as she lay in her bed, dreading getting up only to do what she did yesterday.

Every day was the same thing; wake up, get ready for school, get there, go through the same classes, do work, talk to the same old faces, go home, do homework, watch television, and go to sleep, only to repeat the cycle over the following day if she had school. She was even loosing interest in her love interest. A person could only get rejected so many times, after all.

However, getting back to sleep wasn't as easy as it sounded when there was a constant scratching at her door, which for some reason sounded oddly loud this morning. Seriously, how can a five month old kitten have enough strength to make so much noise? Especially since she had just cut the damn thing's nails the night before?

Sighing, Sakura got up to get ready for school, opening her door to let in the small feline on her way to her bathroom. Said feline quickly ran in and began to follow Sakura around, occasionally pawing at her bare feet.

Sakura smiled, looking down at the kitten zooming around her room and around her feet. "Note to self," she began, "never leave an already hyper kitten strawberry milk in it's water dish." she finished right as the small animal crashed into the giant stuffed bear she had in the corner of her room. Sakura laughed as the cat got up and began biting at the bear, as if trying to get back at it for hitting it.

Sakura rolled her eyes and grinned at her pet's actions as she began to go through her morning routine. Suddenly she frowned before sighing deeply. There it was again, the thought that every day was the same. How she really dreaded going to school. "I thought high school was supposed to be fun, not boring as hell." she muttered to herself.

-- Somewhere Else (About Ten Minutes Earlier) --

A figure shifted around on a hard bed in a dark room, apparently still sleeping. The sound of two knocks was heard before the door adjacent to the bed opened, light flooding into the room, showing that the figure on the bed was awake, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"What is it, Umino-san?" asked the person on the bed, voice devoid of emotion. The man at the door sighed. How many times did he have to tell him to call him Iruka? Walking into the room, Iruka turned on the light, revealing what both he and the boy on the bed looked like.

Iruka had brown hair tied back into a small pony tail, a scar across his face, going horizontally over his nose, and a warm smile on his face, which he always seemed to wear while in the company of the boy on the bed. He wore dark blue pants, a long sleeved dark blue shirt, and what looked like a green doctor's coat, only without sleeves.

The boy on the bed appeared to be around sixteen, wearing a black jacket with orange stripes on his shoulders and down the sides. In the middle was an orange flame, with a wicked smile, separated in half by the zipper, which was down enough to show a black tank top under. He wore matching black pants, which had orange stripes going down the sides, much like the jacket. His hair was spiky, sticking up and out everywhere, and blond. His face was thin, with three whisker-like marks on each cheek, and his eyes were blue. Normally, a boy with a face like this would be a heart throb, but this boy's face had no emotion, and his blue eyes appeared to be dead, making him look less like a heart throb and more like a soulless body.

"How do you know when it's me?" asked Iruka.

"You're the only person that doesn't bang on the door before opening it." said the blond, sitting up and turning so his legs hung off the side of the bed. "And you didn't answer my question."

Iruka sighed. "Naruto, don't tell me you forgot. Today you go on probation, and move in with Yamato." said Iruka.

"Was that today?" Naruto asked, though with his lack of emotion, it didn't sound so much like a question.

"Yes, Naruto, it is." said Iruka. Then he smiled, wider than usual. "You should be happy, you finally get to leave this place." Honestly, most kids were usually so excited about leaving the building that they couldn't sleep. Speaking of not sleeping, why was Naruto awake at this hour, and fully dressed no less? "Wait, if you didn't remember, why are you dressed?"

"Hm? Oh, I woke up about twenty minutes ago, 'cause I had _that_ dream again. Afterwards I decided to just change." explained the teen. Then he looked at Iruka. "And I thought I wasn't going to leave until later." he said.

Iruka looked like he remembered something important that had slipped his mind. "Oh, right. Yamato had said something about wanting you to start socializing with your peers as soon as possible, so he went off and applied to get you into a school."

"That doesn't explain why you're here this early." Naruto stated. This time Iruka grinned.

"You were excepted into Konoha High, and seeing as that's pretty far from here, you need to get going soon." Iruka watched for any response from Naruto, but he got nothing but a blank stare. How that stare sent shivers up his spine; it wasn't natural, and it was creepy.

After a few seconds, Naruto got up. "Whatever, let's go then." he said, sticking his hands in front of him and waiting for Iruka to lead the way.

Although this was necessary to move the kids out of their rooms, Iruka never liked handcuffing Naruto, seeing as Naruto felt no point in trying to escape. Once he had him handcuffed, he led him outside and down a short hallway. There were a few doors spaced a few feet apart from each other, each containing another teenager somewhat like Naruto, each there for different reasons.

As they walked, Iruka remembered something that he figured the blond might know something about. "Say, Naruto, you wouldn't happen to know why Tayuya was locked up in Solitary last night, even though she wasn't supposed to be in there, would you?" he asked.

"Oh. I thought I forgot something last night." he said, making the older man arch an eyebrow. "She was bugging me last night during dinne—something about how if I let her, she'd take me on the ride of my life—so I told her to meet me in the solitary room after lights out and then I'd let her do it. I didn't think she'd actually go, though, I just said that to make her leave me alone." finished the blond, leaving Iruka shaking his head in disbelief.

"I wonder how she even got out of her room after lights out, much less all the way to solitary." Iruka said aloud.

"Probably Satoshi's doing." said the blond as they walked through a set of doors and into another hallway, turning to the left. This caught Iruka's interest.

"Why do you say that, Naruto?" he asked.

"Satoshi once told me about how he felt sorry for me because I was, in his words, 'always near so much good pussy but unable to get any,' and that even if I were able to, he had 'already tapped most of the girls in this joint.'" This shocked Iruka. "So I'm guessing that Tayuya lured him into her room but then tricked him and must have taken his keys." Naruto finished by reminding Iruka about the turn up ahead, which Iruka would've walked into since he wasn't paying much attention after hearing what Naruto had said.

The rest of the way to the main lobby was silent, as Iruka thought about what Naruto said. He had heard that it was Satoshi who had reported that Tayuya was missing, which resulted in the night watch searching for her, and ultimately finding her in solitary, with a pissed off look on her face. He would have to tell his superiors about Satoshi's sick hobby of sleeping with the female patients.

When they reached the main lobby, a man with short brown hair and slightly odd eyes was there waiting. He was dressed similar to Iruka, except instead of a green doctor's coat, he wore a green bullet proof vest. It was standard issue for security to wear. He smiled when he saw the two walk in.

"Hey, Iruka, Naruto, how are you guys doing today?" He received a handshake and an 'Alright' from Iruka, and a shrug from Naruto. "Come on, Naruto, liven up a little. I'm starting to think you're becoming a zombie." Naruto just stared at the brunette, obviously not amused, though not angry either.

"Don't worry Yamato, he gets like this with everyone he doesn't really know. I think he waits to see if he can trust them or not." said Iruka.

"No," said Naruto, "I just stay like that to find out what people say when they think someone's not paying attention. It worked on Satoshi." Yamato raised an eyebrow and Iruka mouthed, 'Long story.'

Yamato nodded before turning to Naruto. "Well, Naruto, let's get going. You don't want to be late for your first day of school, now do you?" asked Yamato. Naruto just shrugged causing Yamato to frown as they walked outside. '_When Iruka said he was severely traumatized, he wasn't kidding. He's lost the will to feel.'_

When they reached the car, Naruto looked at Yamato. "You're taking me to school, in one of the facility's armored vehicles?" he asked.

"Have to. Not only are you still on probation, meaning you can still be brought back here, but my car has engine trouble. I'm lucky I got a ride from Ibiki, or I'd have gotten here late." Yamato explained. "Now get in the back, but don't worry, I won't tie you down."

Naruto didn't seem to care whether or not he was tied down as he climbed in. Yamato closed and locked the door before walking to the front of the car and starting it. Soon enough, they were on the road and driving away from one of the only buildings Naruto had seen in four years.

_'Shinobi Juvenile Detention Center. May I never see this building again.'_ Naruto thought.

-- Konoha District (About Forty-five Minutes Later) --

Sakura had gotten to school a few minutes prior and was now waiting outside of the school. She was with her friends, who were talking about how cool it would be if they had superpowers. So they weren't the coolest kids in school, but they were her friends, and she, probably, wouldn't trade any of them for anything.

"I still say being able to transform into an animal would be the shit." said Kiba, a wild looking boy with unruly brown hair and black eyes. He wore a gray sweater, the sleeves ripped off, with the image of a dog on the back, and a pair of dark gray pants with a few tears here and there. This was what most of his clothes looked like and, as his appearance told, he was a rebellious boy, almost never afraid to talk back to anyone.

"Please, being able to always hit what your aiming at is better. You'd say money on stuff like ammunition for long range weapons." said Tenten, a girl dressed in a Chinese style shirt with blue jeans. Her hair was tied up into two buns on top of her head. She was somewhat of a tomboy, and would often be seen at either the arcade or in the park, playing sports with some of 'the guys.'

"That's not even a superpower," said a brown haired, big boned (as people have learned to call him, lest they have a death wish) boy, "being able to expand your body and become a giant; now that's a power." Choji wore a white shirt with a green button up shirt, opened, and dark brown shorts. Choji was probably the most normal of the group, other than his healthy appetite. He turned to the boy siting next to him on the stone tables on the school grounds. "Right, Shikamaru?"

"I'm not in this." Shikamaru said smiling while waving his hands in front of himself. He had dark brown hair, almost black, tied back into a small ponytail, making his head resemble a pineapple. His black eyes, usually closed, were reflecting his amusement, purely from listening to his friends' odd conversation. He wore a navy blue shirt, with text written on it(*refer to bottom author's note), and blue pants.

Shikamaru was then pushed to the side as a boy dressed in dark green pumped his fist up in the air. "You're all wrong, the power of youth is the greatest of all super powers!" he yelled, before being pushed slightly by Tenten.

"Lee," she yelled, "be quiet before you draw too much attention to us!" however, her outburst, combined with Lee's had done exactly that. "What are you looking at?" she said to everyone who was staring at them. They all turned away and continued with whatever they were doing. When the gang returned to their conversation, they heard the voice of the quietest person in their group.

"How about the power to see through things? That could come in handy." said a pale girl, with dark violet hair and lavender eyes. She wore a gray jacket over a purple shirt and a pair of purple jeans with gray stars on the hips. Hinata was a pretty shy girl, often picked on for the small stutter she got when she was nervous, but her friends, Kiba, Tenten, and Lee would have none of that.

Sakura, who decided she was gonna join the conversation, was dressed in a red long sleeved shirt, with the collar and the bottom of her button up white blouse sticking out, and a pair of tight blue jeans. She breathed in deep before letting out a loud 'Ha!' making her friends look at her.

"You're all wrong," she began, "super strength is the best power. Nothing would be in your way." her friends looked at her before the cycle began again. It continued for a few more minutes, until someone yelled out something about an armored car passing by from Shinobi J.D.C.

Instantly, everyone on the field was looking at the car as it got closer. As it passed the front of the school it stopped. The driver then got out and walked to the back doors, unlocking them before opening them slowly. Everyone was trying to see who was going to come out.

--Five Minutes Prior--

"We're almost there, Naruto. Are you excited?"

"... Sure..."

"You better not get into trouble. I don't wanna have to take you back so soon after you finally got out." Yamato said as he stopped at a red light. He looked back at Naruto, finding him sitting upside down. "Naruto, why are you sitting like that? He asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just kind of bored." he stated. Indeed, it had been a boring drive, with none of them really saying anything. Yamato decided to ask how Naruto planned to make his first impression.

"Naruto, what are you—"

"—Green light." Naruto said, making Yamato turn and look at the traffic light the second it turned green.

_'How did he...?'_ Yamato thought as he hit the gas peddle.

"I think I want them to think I'm stupid..." Naruto said, making Yamato raise an eyebrow. "I don't feel like drawing too much attention to myself. Then again, it will be hard not to gain attention driving up in this car." Yamato smiled.

"Why don't you try to make them think you're trying to pull off the stunt from the movie, 'The New Guy'?" Yamato offered his idea.

"Come again?" Yamato forgot Naruto hadn't seen any recent, or somewhat recent, movies.

"Well, in the movies, a nerd tries to make kids at his new school think he's this bad ass. Only, it kind of backfires at first when, even after showing up with police and in an armored vehicle, when finding the toughest guy from the school, he gets punched in front of everyone out, instead of the other way around." Yamato explained.

"I fail to see how that will work to make them think I'm stupid." Naruto stated.

"Well, you really are meant to be in this car, but if you get punched by the toughest guy, in front of everyone, it'll make them think that you're dumb for trying to do something from a movie." Yamato said. "If you really want to make them think otherwise, this is your best chance of not drawing to much attention in the long run. You wanna do it?"

Naruto supposed this could work, but it also seemed to simple to work. '_How about if I—'_

"We're here, are you gonna do it?"

"Fine, why not?"

After he said that, Yamato parked and got out of the car. Seconds later, he heard the doors being unlocked right before they were opened. Yamato went inside and grabbed him by the handcuffs.

"Remember, find the toughest guy and go down in a fight against him. This once I'll let you, but only for this." he said. He was about to pull him out before he looked at his eyes. Quickly, Yamato pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on his face. "Those eyes might draw more attention than the car." he said.

Naruto said nothing as he was pulled out. Once out, he saw a few hundred kids on the lawn of the school watching his every move. They watched as Yamato took off his hand cuffs before walking hastily back into the car and driving off. However he doubted that even with how quiet it was, and with how much they were paying attention, anyone, besides him, heard Yamato say;

"I'll be back after school, good luck being stupid." before he got into the car and drove away.

Naruto looked at the students in front of him. _'Who is the strongest?'_

Sakura and her friends watched the driver walk into the car, pull out a kid in handcuffs, take them off, and then pretty much all but run away. Now it appeared that they were stuck with a possibly dangerous psychopath. Great.

"Hey," Kiba broke the silence in their group, "for some reason, I think of the thing from that movie happening right now." he said.

"Which one? 'The New Guy'?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah," Tenten agreed with Kiba, "I bet that this poor kid will get humiliated." she said.

"Uh-huh. Especially since the toughest guy here is Sasuke. For his sake, I hope he doesn't try to fight him." said Choji.

Sakura wasn't really listening. She was more intrigued in sizing up the new guy.

_'He seems pretty normal, except for the fact that he came out of an armored car.'_ she thought, watching as he seemed to be scanning the field. He passed her group and continued. When he didn't seem to find what, or who, he was looking for, he started walking up the field, with people moving out of the way in apparent fear.

_'Uh-oh.'_ she thought when he stopped in front of Sasuke, the school heart throb and best fighter. _'Don't tell me he's gonna—'_

Naruto scanned the field. So far he hadn't found the toughest looking guy, but he had seen an unusual looking girl with pink hair. _'That couldn't have been natural, though.' _he thought. Then, suddenly he saw a boy with raven colored hair and charcoal eyes. His hair was pointed back, and he wore a pair of somewhat baggy black pants and a dark blue short sleeved shirt.

_'I think I found him.' _Naruto thought. He walked towards him. "Hey, You." he called out to him. "What's you're name?"

The boy looked at him, seemingly sizing him up. "Who wants to know and why?" he answered with a question.

"Uzumaki Naruto, because I want to know the name of the guy whose ass I'm about to kick." Naruto said, trying to provoke the guy.

He 'hn' and looked away. "Beat it, Naruto. I don't want to have to embarrass you on your first day." he said.

Naruto decided to provoke him some more, Yamato had said to fight and lose to the toughest guy. Naruto was pretty obedient—it kinda came with not having defiance. He grabbed a milk carton that a boy was drinking and threw it's contents on the tough guy. That got a result, as he stood up.

Naruto was getting ready to throw the fight when, before he knew it, he was punched in the stomach, getting the wind knocked out of him. He fell, clutching his stomach in pain. He heard laughter, and through it he heard;

"Uchiha Sasuke."

With that, Sasuke and his friends, along with most of the kids on the field, walked to school. The bell must have wrong sometime between when he got punched and when he fell to the ground.

Sakura and her friends watched the boy converse with Sasuke. Then, the blond kid grabbed and threw milk in Sasuke's face. Quickly, Sasuke got up and right when Kiba thought there would be a fight, Sasuke had already punched the kid so hard, he fell.

When the bell rang, she and her friends hurried to get into the school and to their lockers. All the way in, Kiba was laughing, saying how the new kid was a living example of the phrase he learned in english a while back, 'All bark and no bite'.

Sakura could only shake her head. _'I guess he had it coming after what he did to Sasuke-kun.'_ she thought.

As soon as Naruto was sure all the kids were gone, he stood up and stretched.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought." he said, scratching his stomach. "Yamato was right, it worked and now they probably won't pay much attention to me." he said to himself. He slowly dusted his pants before walking into the school. However, while walking up the steps, his stomach began to actually hurt. Grabbing it quickly, he thought, _'Better watch out for that guy. He really is strong.'_

Sakura looked out her window, trying to see where the kid was, since her first class' windows faced the front of the school. But he wasn't there. She thought about what might've happened to him as she waited for her Sensei to get to class. When he got there he cleared his throat, signaling for everyone in the class to give him their attention.

"Class," said Asuma-Sensei, "we have someone transferring into our class. Please be nice to this student." he said. Soon after, a blond teen walked into the room.

_'What the fu—'_

"Class, please join me in welcoming a new student. I ask that you all be nice to him." said a woman with red eyes and long black hair as Naruto walked into the class. Once he got a good look at everyone, he saw someone sitting in the back.

"Well, hello, Uchiha-san." he smiled.

**To Be Continued...**

AN/ Well, this isn't Life at hidden academy, but it's a high school fic. Be warned, this fic will not be all romance. It'll be kinda a dark fic. Trust me. I don't know how dark I'll make it, but it should be up there with where I plan to take JFO(Just Following Orders). Also, my life is kinda hectic, so I apologize, but I have hardly any time to write anymore. But I hope to get time over the summer, so be ready for my comeback, soon.

*And as to what Shikamaru's shirt said; 'The other day I went to the mall to buy a new shirt and I happened to come across this very shirt. And as I began reading it, I soon realized that it didn't really say anything on it and started laughing. So I bought it and now you're standing there, reading it.' Saw it on a shirt before and thought it was funny...

Also, name might change for this fic. Dunno yet.


	2. Chapter 2

AN/ Seriously, I seem to be stuck in a writing mood. Kinda annoying, actually... Anyways, as I said, since I'm still in this mood, I'm writing Chapter two of 'Cursed.' For the moment, it does fit the plot, but it also fits the plot of another story I have in mind. Either way, unless I find a better name, it's 'Cursed.'

Now, don't be fooled by first appearances, people. Just because the first chapter wasn't all that dark, it doesn't mean the rest of the story won't be. I can't promise that it'll be the darkest story, but it should be known that it will be... well, not nice, I guess. Just don't expect rainbows and sunshine.

Note: During scenes focusing Naruto, adults' last names will be used, if possible, when referring to them. Scenes focusing on Sakura or both/no one in particular will use adults' first names when referring to them.

Disclaimer: ... No...

"Speech"

_'Thought'_

**'To Be Revealed'**

Cursed

The class was silent as they watched Sasuke stare off with the new student; the loser from outside. Well, actually, it was glaring from Sasuke's end and idiotic smiling from Naruto's end. While the students could feel the 'tension' between the two, the teacher didn't seem to have, for she decided to interrupt them.

"You two know each other?" she asked. If possible, Naruto's smile grew. Student's shot him questioning looks, as it was kind of unnatural for someone to smile that wide.

"Yeah, we kinda met outside." he said, scratching the back of his head. "We talked for a while before the bell rang, and then I went to get my schedule." The teacher smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Excellent. I'll assign you the job of showing him around, then, Sasuke." she stated. She then turned towards Naruto, ignoring the 'Excuse me?' from Sasuke. "Well, since your new, welcome to Computer graphics and animation. I'm your teacher, Yuuhi Kerenai, but call me Yuuhi-sensei." she introduced herself. "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

"Al-right..." Naruto stared at the woman, somewhat weary of her enthusiasm, before remembering his decision to act stupid. "What do you want me to say?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Just tell us your name. If you want to say anything else, feel free to do so." Yuuhi answered, encouraging him to tell his classmates about himself.

"Okay. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Um... I'm sixteen... Uh..." Naruto seemed to struggle with this, making his classmates laugh. "I like Ramen... Uh, what else? I guess that's everything to know about me." he finished. Some of the students were shaking their heads, while others were laughing at his simplicity.

Naruto didn't understand what was so funny, but he smiled anyways. That was all they really needed to know about him. Things like his background weren't really for them to know. Besides, his past would either make them ask questions, or stay clear of him. He didn't want to chance bringing too much attention to himself.

"Alright, settle down class." Yuuhi said, throwing the blond, who was only smiling widely, a sympathetic look. Seemed the students had already decided Naruto was perfect material to ridicule. "Why don't you go take a seat, Naruto?" she suggested. Naruto obeyed, finding a seat near the edge of the class. He put his head down as his teacher began the class, explaining about transitions and basic effects.

As time passed, Naruto tried to pay attention, he really did, but his lack of sleep was getting to him. The swirling images on the projector screen weren't helping either, as he noticed his eyelids getting heavier.

* * *

_A young boy sat on his bed inside his room. It was quite large, with several other beds besides his own. There were also drawers between each bed, some with items valuable to their owners like pictures and others with books from the reading center in the building. _

_The boy had messy bright yellow hair and two sapphire eyes, shining with hope. He had clothing that seemed to have been stitched together a few times, and a size too large for him. They were hand-me-downs, after all, given to him by the caretakers after the original owners had left. _

_The reason his eyes shone with hope probably had something to do with the fact that there were people looking for someone to adopt. Apparently, they had wanted a child of his age, blond hair, boy if possible, and that wasn't shy. There were only seven blonds at the orphanage, and four of those were girls. So he had a pretty good chance of being adopted._

_He swung his legs back and forth while he waited, anticipation building in him quickly. He could hear the sound of footsteps in the hall outside his door, and his mind was filled with questions. Would these people be nice? Would they be mean? Would they like him? Did they have kids of their own? _

_The last one was probably incorrect, as usually the only people that came wanted kids, but couldn't have them for some reason. The old man never told him why, exactly, they couldn't, but the old granny said is was because they didn't have chimneys for the stork to drop the babies through. That made him laugh, picturing the bird circling a house before going to another one. _

_The door opened with a 'click', and he was brought out of his musings. _

"_This young boy is Uzumaki Naruto. He should be exactly what your looking for." He heard the voice of the old man, before the door was opened, revealing a young couple. The woman had long black hair and the man had silver hair, that reached his shoulders._

_-- _

"_Mommy, can I go to Waraji's house after school? He's having a sleepover, and he invited me yesterday." a young Naruto asked his adopted mother. They were in the kitchen eating breakfast. He was at the table while his mother was busy making breakfast for his father. She lowered the fire on the stove and turned to him as the eggs cooked._

"_That depends. Are you boys planning on playing a prank on his parents like you did on Jantou's parents?" she asked, staring at her son. He smiled sheepishly before turning his head away, stuffing his mouth full of cereal before responding._

"_That was Saruyama's idea, and I promise to be a good boy if you let me go." he said, or at least, it sounded like he did. It was hard to tell exactly what he said with his mouth full as it was. His mother smiled before turning back to the eggs._

"_Ask your father." she said, flipping the eggs before adding bacon to one side of the pan. Naruto pouted before eating more of his cereal. She always said that, and then his father always told him to ask his mother. Then she would end up deciding, anyways._

_A few minutes later, his father came down, buttoning up his shirt. "Tsubaki, I don't have anymore clean button shirts. Would you mind washing some today?" he asked his wife, who replied with a 'Hai, Hai,' as she handed him his breakfast. He took it and sat in front of Naruto. "Morning, squirt." he greeted as he began eating._

"_Dad, can I go to Waraji's house for a sleep over today?" Naruto asked, playing with the remaining bits of cereal in his bowl, expecting the usual answer._

"_Ask your mother." he said, making Naruto look at said woman as she sat down. She saw his look and smiled._

"_Fine,"—she was interrupted by Naruto's 'Yatta!'—"but if I hear you were involved in another prank, I won't let you go on the field trip next week. Now, drink your milk." she finished, Naruto agreed and obeyed._

_-- _

_Naruto was currently curled up in his room, trying to block out the yells coming from downstairs. He wanted to go down, but was afraid of being punished by his father. Ever since he had started fifth grade, his father had begun to get angry quickly for some reason, and he was going out a lot at night. _

_Naruto flinched when he heard glass break, and stood up, walking to the door. On the way, he caught a glimpse of the black lines on his face in the mirror on his closet. He shuddered at the memory of how he received them. All he had done was ask his dad where he went at night, and he had replied that if he wanted to know, he would take him with him the next next time._

_Opening the door slightly, he heard his parents voices more clearly._

"_Mizuki, please, stop doing this. What those people do isn't right. Look at what they did to Naruto-kun." his mother said, trying to reason with her husband._

"_They didn't force him to do it, he said he wanted to help them with their next ritual. They told him it wasn't something for children to participate in, but he said that he was interested in what happened!" His father yelled. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. _

'Liar.'_ he thought, remembering how his dad had taken him to some old abandoned building, where people with black cloaks were waiting, their faces covered by their hoods._

_-_

"Are you sure you okay with this?" a man had asked his father, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, with this, I prove my loyalty to you guys." he had responded, pushing Naruto forward. The man nodded before throwing his father a white pair of shorts.

"You've seen the procedure, you know where to take him." another man said, as the group walked off into another room. Nodding, his father lead him to different room. It had a stone table in the middle. On the floor surrounding the table, a star was drawn inside a circle, in what looked like red paint.

"Take off your clothes and change into this." his father said, pushing him into the room and leaving the white clothing on the floor. When Naruto tried to protest, he threatened, "Naruto. If you humiliate me in front of these people, so help you god, I will beat you within an inch of your life." Scared, Naruto obeyed, stripping to his boxers and putting on the shorts.

-

_Naruto didn't like thinking about what happened when the hooded people returned. But there was no forgetting what happened that night, as he had the lines on his cheeks to remind him every time he looked in the mirror. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of flesh hitting roughly against flesh and a pained gasp._

* * *

Naruto jerked awake when he was shaken slightly; his teacher was standing in front of him, her hand on his shoulder. Lifting up his face up, he stared at her, noticing that behind her stood the Uchiha boy, his expression bored.

"Naruto, the period's over." she said, getting a nod from the boy. As he was getting up, she said, "Sasuke-kun is going to show you around. If you have any questions, he'll answer them for you." Naruto nodded again before walking towards the door, Sasuke right in front of him.

"I can't believe Yuuhi-sensei made me have to show you around." Sasuke said, expecting Naruto to be a smart ass and say something stupid. When he didn't get a response other than silence, he looked behind him. The blond's face looked tired, most likely due to having fallen asleep. "What class do you have next, anyways?"

Naruto didn't respond verbally, only reached forward, giving the raven haired boy his schedule. He took it and read it as they walked.

**Period: Subject: Teacher: Room**

**1- Computers- Yuuhi, K.- 106**

**2- English 11- Saennin, J.- 203**

**3- History 11- Sarutobi, A.- 248**

**4- Sexual Education- Mitarashi, A.- 015**

**5- Physical Education- Maito, G.- Gymnasium**

**6- Lunch- N/A- Cafateria**

**7- Math 11- Gekko, H.- 129**

**8- Science 11- Hatake K.- 231**

_'We have only computers, gym and lunch together.'_ Sasuke thought after reading the schedule. Naruto was in eleventh grade, while he was only in tenth. The classes they had together were only because they weren't grade specific. _'Damn, that means I'll have to find him after each of my classes. I don't like Yuuhi-sensei anymore.'_ he added when he remembered that he was the new student's guide.

"You don't have to show me to my classes, Uchiha-san. I think I'm smart enough to know that two-oh-three is on the second floor." Naruto said, back to his false cheerful attitude, making Sasuke turn towards him with an arched eyebrow. Had the new student just read his mind or something? When a turn came up, Naruto surprised him by going up the stairs without his schedule.

"Hey, Uzumaki, your schedu—"

"Keep it. I think I remember where my classes are." Naruto interrupted him, smiling and waving as he turned to go up another flight of stairs. When he was out of sight, he dropped his smile. He hadn't expected that to happen while he took a nap. Not after he had had one of those dreams just the night before. They were usually spread a few days from each other.

Shaking his head, Naruto sighed. "Might as well forget about it. It's already happened, nothing I can do about it." he said to himself. There wasn't anyone around, since he and Sasuke had already been late when they left the computer room. The halls were empty, except for the security guards that roamed the hall, trying to find anyone fool enough to try and cut class.

Soon, Naruto appeared in front of his second period class. From the sound of it, they were reading a book. Who ever was reading was horrible, though. Sounded like a bored sleepy sloth. When Naruto knocked on the door, the reading stopped before the teacher ordered one of the closer students to open the door.

The student that did open the door was a girl with brown hair pulled into two buns on top of her head. She wore a Chinese style shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She blinked when she saw who it was at the door.

_'Oh, great. Don't tell me the new guy is in my class.'_ she thought. She didn't have anything against him, but the stunt he tried to pull outside was downright retarded.

"This English eleven with Saennin-sensei?" Naruto asked, his mask on once again. The girl nodded and stepped to the side, allowing him in. He walked in, spotting an old man with spiky white hair and red lines, that looked like tear stains on his face, sitting on his desk, literally. "Saennin-sensei?" the man nodded. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, new student in your class."

"Ah, Naruto, I was wondering where you were." he responded, waving off Naruto's apology for being tardy. "I'm Saennin Jiraiya, but call me Saennin-sensei." he introduced himself. "Why don't you take a seat? We're reading 'Hamlet.' Would you like to read?" Saennin asked, hoping the boy would accept. The Hyuuga was terrible at reading, he failed to express the emotions in the characters lines.

"Uh, no thanks. I'll pass." Naruto answered, swearing he heard the teacher give a quick sob. He found a seat next to a boy with black hair in a bowl cut. He also noticed that the boy had unnaturally thick eyebrows and wore a dark green short sleeved shirt and dark green pants. When he sat down, the boy who had been reading before continued.

The boy was pale, almost to the point where he looked like he had never been in the sun. He had long brown hair, and eyes that almost looked pupil-less. He wore a baggy long sleeve button up shirt and black loose fitting jeans. His face had an indifferent look to it, but it looked like he was trying to be emotionless.

"Neji, hold on for a moment." Saennin interrupted when Neji finished the chapter and was going to start the next, making the class look at him, bored. Some even yawned. "Since this class is paying such excellent attention, I'd like you all to write a page about what just happened,"—the class groaned, cursing under their breath—"and be sure to include the reactions of the characters, as well as your own opinion to their reactions."

"You want my opinion? This book is boring as hell." one of the students said, gaining a few giggles from the girls. Even the teacher laughed, though his was sarcastic.

"Yeah, that's good. Now I want you to right two pages on why it's boring." Saennin said, smiling when the boy looked at him disbelievingly. "That includes all of you." he added when some of the students mocked the boy. "Two pages, handed in by the end of the class. Tomorrow at latest."

The class cursed at the boy as they took out their books and writing utensils. The boy next to Naruto, however, noticed he didn't have any materials.

"Pardon me, Naruto." he said, getting a glance from the boy. "You look like you need supplies." he dug into his backpack and pulled out a spare pen. "Here you go." he offered Naruto the pen, along with a few sheets of paper.

Naruto accepted the pen and the paper he gave him. "Thanks, but I came in kinda late. I don't think I can do the classwork 'cause I missed, like, half the chap—"

"Don't worry, you can borrow my book." he said, handing it to Naruto. "I wrote down the chapter as Neji-kun read it." he said, making Naruto stare at him.

"Thanks, but why?" he asked, not really meaning the 'thanks.' He had planning on not doing any work for the day.

"I figure it's always good to make friends with the people you sit near." he said, flashing Naruto a smile.

"Not that, I mean why would you write down the chapter?" Naruto questioned, wondering if the kid was one of those they considered a nerd.

"Oh. Well, I like to challenge myself, and this way it helps me remember what happened in the chapter better." the boy explained, scratching his cheek. "Kinda silly, huh?"

"Nah. I get what you mean." Naruto responded as he opened the book. "Thanks for the help... Uh..."

"Oh, my bad. I never introduced myself. I'm Lee; Rock Lee." He introduced himself, sticking his hand out. Naruto took it and they shook.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." he said as they let go. When Naruto turned back around, he found the teacher standing to the other side of his desk from where Lee was, a stern look on his face.

"Naruto, it looks like you've finished. Why else would you be talking?" he asked. Naruto smiled and lifted the book Lee had given him.

"I was just asking for help. I did come in late." he answered. The teacher stared at the book for a while before turning to leave. Naruto got to reading, although not really interested in the book itself. He was just trying to look occupied until the period finished. He didn't notice the smile that the girl who opened the door shot towards him and Lee.

_'Maybe he's not that bad after all.'_ she thought before getting back to work.

The rest of the period went by quickly afterwards. Everyone handed their work in if they were finished before leaving. Naruto walked out with Lee walking behind him and the brown haired girl not far behind. Which seemed odd seeing as her seat was right next to the door, where as theirs were in the middle of the class.

"Naruto-kun, what class do you have next?" Lee asked as he swung his backpack over his shoulders. He got a glare from the brown haired girl who he almost hit.

"History, room two forty-eight." responded the blond. Lee nodded.

"I have Science next but Tenten-chan has that class next. Maybe she could take you?" he suggested. The girl pondered on the idea for a second.

_'Well, he's not _that_ bad. I guess it wouldn't hurt to take him, seeing as he's new and all.'_ she thought. Naruto, seeing that she hadn't responded decided he wasn't going to force her.

"That's okay, I think I ca—"

"Come with me, I'll take you." she said, cutting him off mid sentence before walking off down the hall.

"Yosh. I'll see you later, then, Naruto-kun." Lee said as he walked into a classroom along the way. That left Naruto with Tenten. He didn't feel like saying anything, mostly because he didn't feel in general. Soon, though, they arrived and walked in, Tenten sitting in the seat closest to the door once again. Naruto decided to sit in the back.

As the class filled up, the bell rang, and the teacher walked in. He had short but messy black hair and a short trimmed beard. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, which he sipped before shutting the door. A thud was heard as someone walked into it.

"Oops." said the teacher as he opened the door, letting the poor student in. "Get to class faster next time." he said, only getting a nod from the student as she rubbed her head. Scanning the room for any more missing students, he noticed a head of spiky yellow hair. "You must be the new student. Please come up here and introduce yourself, would you?"

Naruto sighed, getting tired of introducing himself. Walking to the front, he fixed his sunglasses. He knew Yamoto said they were to hide his eyes, but they were getting annoying. They sort of limited his vision. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto." he introduced himself, the mask once again on his face. "That's all." he said when they stared at him as if expecting a magic trick.

"Okay, Naruto sit down. I'm Sarutobi-sensei, by the way. Welcome to History." said the large man. Naruto nodded as he walked back to his seat, ignoring the boy who coughed saying 'Loser.' He sat down as Sarutobi began his lecture about the feudal era of Japan; the time of Samarai, Ninja and Demons. Or at least, it was written that demons once roamed the land.

Naruto stopped himself from snapping the pen Lee had let him borrow. Instead, he used it to draw on his hand. He spent most of the period trying to draw a dragon, but gave up when he noticed it looked more like a snake shedding it's skin. He spent the last couple minutes clicking the pen in and out.

When the bell rang, he walked out behind Tenten, who turned towards him. "What class do you have next, Naruto-san?" she asked as they walked down the hall.

"I think it's Sexual Education in room fifteen." he said, making everyone turn towards him, as no one called it that anymore. Eleventh and twelfth graders called it either Sex Ed or, in the case of ninth and tenth graders, Health Class. "That's in the basement... right?" he asked, once again feigning stupidity. Tenten nodded.

"Yep, but I have Art next. I'd take you but I don't want to be late for my class." she said, sounding apologetic.

"Don't worry. I think I can find the basement." Naruto reassured her. "It's the floor all the way at the bottom!" Tenten laughed at his apparent cheerfulness. They reached a corner and she began to leave.

"Yeah. Well, see you later, Naruto." she said as she walk off down the hall while Naruto himself walked down the stairs. On the way, he walked next to a yellow haired girl, who seemed to be pissed off about something.

"Stupid guidance councilors transferring me into billboard brow's classes." she muttered to herself while they walked in the hall of the basement. He didn't hear anymore as she entered a room in the basement before he got to his own class. Inside, he saw the group from outside—the one that the pink haired girl had been part of—as well as the pink haired girl.

_'Seriously, why would anyone dye their hair pink? Kinda easy to tell it's not natural.'_ he thought as he walked off.

His class was right next door. Walking in, he was surprised by the posters of rated 'R' movies that included nude scenes that were hanging on the walls. There were also two mannequins in the corners that showed the female and male anatomy. He walked in farther, getting a better look at the rest of the room. There were a few things that weren't really for childrens' eyes, such as a diagram that showed where and what the parts that made up the sexual organs were. It was actually detailed to the point of being disturbing.

He didn't notice the person that was sneaking up on him until they turned him around. Caught off guard, he backed up, getting a look at the person. It was a woman with purple hair tied into a messy bun on the back of her head. She had a carefree expression, as if she was always smiling. She wore a V-neck brown shirt over a fishnet shirt. She also wore a dark brown short skirt over fishnet stockings.

"And who might you be?" she asked, a wide grin on her face. Naruto thought that this woman made his false idiotic smiles look like intelligent smirks.

"Uzumaki Naruto, and you?" he asked back. He didn't even bother to smile, she would have made his smile look fake, anyways.

"I'm Mitarashi Anko, but you kids have to refer to me as Mitarashi-sensei." she said, pulling out a clipboard. "Let's see... Uzumaki, Naruto." she scanned the page with her pencil. "Oh, there you are. Alright, take a seat and wait for the bell to ring." she ordered, checking his name. By the time he took his seat, which was at the back of the class in the middle row, half of the class had already walked past him to their own.

"Normally, I wouldn't say anything, but seeing as your new, I'm advising you to think twice before sitting there." said a stoic voice making Naruto look up as he sat down. He saw the face of the pale boy from his second period; the one who had been reading, horribly. Neji, if he remembered correctly.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, his cheerful facade back. He figured it had something to do with the fact that this boy was trying to act emotionless, while he clearly had emotions, and he himself was trying to act emotional, while he hadn't felt one in years.

"Besides the fact that if Inaho comes in and sees you in his seat he won't hesitate to start a fight—the brainless oaf—no reason." Neji answered as he sat down two seats in front of where Naruto was currently sitting. Turning in his seat to face Naruto he added, "But since I'm in the student council, I try to stop fights if I can. Why don't you sit over there?" he pointed to a seat in the front of the class.

Sighing, Naruto did as he was told. Besides the fact that he thought a fight would draw attention to him, whether he won it or not, he was naturally too obedient for his own good. As soon as he sat down in his new seat, the bell rang, and Mitarashi closed the door, or slammed it would be a more accurate statement.

"Alright, gakis. We have a new student." Naruto was starting to get tired of constantly introducing himself. "So, would you please introduce yourself?" Mitarashi asked, looking at Naruto expectantly. Seeing a loop hole in her statement, Naruto faked a grin.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you." he said from his seat, not bothering to stand up in front of the class. Although it was customary, Mitarashi, unlike the rest of his teachers, hadn't told him to stand in the front of the class. It seemed that the teacher didn't really care about his lack of regulation.

"Alright. Yesterday, we were talking about—Ami, mind telling the class what we covered yesterday?" she demanded of a girl that was playing with her cell phone, apparently texting. The girl responded with an unintelligent, 'Huh?' Mitarashi walked over and confiscated her phone. "You'll get this back after class. Now tell us what we covered yesterday."

Sighing, the girl answered, "We were covering STD's and how to prevent them." she said, her face showing how little she cared about school. Mitarashi smiled.

"Very good. Now, does anyone remember what types of STD's there are?" she asked the class. A scrawny hand flew into the air. "Yes, Daisuke?"

"Bacterial, Fungal, Viral, Parasitic, and Protozoan." the boy answered.

"Very good. Can anyone name—" She was interrupted by a few loud knocks at the door. Mitarashi scanned the room before narrowing her eyes. Swearing, she opened the door, not surprised by the security guard on the other side, holding a boy with short brown hair by the back of his shirt.

"I believe this belongs to you, this period." the security guard said, pushing the boy inside. "He was trying to cut in the cafeteria. Like as if we don't know which kids belong to which lunch period." tapping his face near his eyes, he added, "They don't just say we security guards of Konoha District have the best eyes to be polite."

Mitarashi laughed, nodding. "Yep. Well, thanks for bringing this idiot, Kotetsu." she said, going to close the door. "Oh, before I forget. Tell that lazy bum, Kakashi, to not screw up my lunch order like he did yesterday." Kotetsu nodded.

"What should I tell him you'll do if he does?" he asked, grinning. Mitarashi smirked maliciously.

"Tell him I'll put pictures of when he was in high school, before he started wearing his mask." she replied. Kotetsu laughed, saying something about how that'll make the man order her extra. Closing the door, Mitarashi turned to the class, or more specifically, the cutter. "Detention after school, Inaho." she said, making the boy groan and curse the security guard.

The rest of the period was uneventful afterwards, filled with the teacher embarrassing kids by making them admit if they practiced protective sex; to which most kids responded by admitting that they were virgins. When the bell rang, Naruto stood to leave, only to be pushed roughly by the Idaho boy as he tried to run out of the class. The force of the collision made Naruto's shades fall off his face. However the only person looking at him from the front was the teacher, Mitarashi.

"Watch where you're going, loser." Idaho yelled at Naruto as he picked up his shades, putting them on his face before anyone saw his eyes, not noticing the shocked gasp that came from the teacher. The blond merely smiled and muttered an apology. "You better be sorry." Idaho said before leaving the room.

Naruto merely rolled his eyes before following suit, heading for the gym, as did the rest of the class, but to their own classes. No body seemed to notice that their teacher sat in her chair, tears welling in her eyes and her hand over her mouth. Even the girl who snatched her phone from her desk didn't seem to notice.

_'How is it possible for anyone's eyes to express so much pain and sorrow? And for those eyes to belong to a teenager; a young one no less?' _she asked herself mentally.

She had only caught a brief glimpse, but that was enough. The teachers had been informed that the new student was from the Shinobi Juvenile Detention Center, but had been assured that he was allowed to go to the school because he was on probation. And also that he had gone to the J.D.C. on special conditions, but after seeing the look in his eyes, Anko couldn't help but wonder what exactly those special conditions had been.

Deciding that maybe another of the teachers would know, Anko deciding to head to lunch.

* * *

Sakura walked with her friends to gym. After parting ways with the boys, who had to go to the boys' locker room, she was left walking with Hinata, and then Tenten, who they met while putting away their books. After all, they had lunch after gym, and they didn't want to be stuck carrying their books all period. They were talking about—or Sakura was talking about—Ino, the blond haired girl Sakura now had to deal with in all her classes.

"I don't know why you're so pissed off, Sakura. All you have to do is Ignore her. It's not like you have to invite her over to your house or anything." Tenten said, surprised when the rosette frowned. "Wait, do you?"

"I have to. We're partners in science. We have to build a diagram about an ecosystem." Sakura admitted, her voice frustrated. They stopped when Hinata opened the doors to the girls' locker room. Walking in, Sakura said, "I just don't know if I'll be able to handle her attitude. I don't know how I handled it when we were best friends in middle school."

She and Ino had been friends in Elementary, after Ino had chased off a few immature boys that insisted on picking on Sakura's slightly larger than normal forehead. Afterwards, Sakura had clung to Ino like a magnet to a refrigerator. And although Ino sometimes teased her playfully, she always defended Sakura and would always ask her to go to her house after school, or if she could go to Sakura's. But that changed when they entered middle school and were put in the same class as Uchiha Sasuke. It was love at first sight for both of them, which put a strain on their friendship. Eventually, Sakura ended it after a bad argument involving the Uchiha, during which things were said; things that couldn't be taken back.

"Why don't you just ask for a change of partners?" Hinata asked as they began changing into their gym uniforms; a short sleeved shirt with the school symbol on the shoulder and a pair of blue short shorts. Sakura sighed.

"I already did. Kakashi-sensei said he couldn't guarantee anything, but that he'd see what he could do." Sakura said as they changed their regular bras for their sports bras—they shared the gym with the boys and they tended to go crazy when they saw breasts bouncing without the restraints a sports bra provided. "But he was reading his perverted book when he said that, no doubt he probably wasn't paying attention."

Tenten nodded, knowing how the masked man tended to zone out and agree to things when he read his book, that one of the English teachers had published. "You never know, you might have caught him before he got into the book." Sakura shrugged, signifying that it was possible. They closed the gym locker they shared, since the school only allowed them to use locks they provided in case anyone forgot their combination and each lock cost eight dollars.

Before Sakura could respond, there was a knock at the doors that connected to the Gymnasium. "Hurry it up, ladies. You know the rules. If you're not changed and out of the locker room five minutes after the bell rings, you get locked up until the end of the period." came the voice of the gym teacher, Maito-sensei(or Gai-sensei in Lee's case.).

Immediately after he finished, all the girls scrambled to get out. They locked the locker rooms, both boy and girl, to prevent people from going in to steal anything and to prevent anyone from trying to set up anything like a camera. However, while everyone thought Maito-sensei was kidding about locking them inside, in the beginning of freshmen year, they had found out he has locked some students in the locker room for a period.

* * *

-- Boy's Locker Room, Same Time--

Naruto was surprised at how difficult it had been to get to the gymnasium, seeing as the only entrances to the locker rooms were on the top floor. Inside, though, he almost thought he should have stayed lost. He didn't particularly enjoy the fact that there were shirtless boys all around the locker room, or that some were in their boxers, just walking around and talking casually. He turned when he heard a familiar voice towards the corner of the room. A few familiar voices, actually.

"Hey, Kiba, do me a favor and smell my leg warmers and tell me if I need to wash them yet, would you?" Lee's enthusiastic voice came, as he held up a pair of orange leg warmers. The brown haired boy he was holding them up to backed away, pinching his nose.

"That's not funny, you know I have a sensitive nose!" he yelled, getting annoyed when he heard laughter behind Lee. A boy with a short ponytail and a fat boy were laughing, obviously at the brown haired boy's, Kiba's, situation. "Assholes, did you tell him to do that?" he asked, still pinching his nose. On the other side of the room, Naruto pushed air out through his nose. He, too, had a sensitive nose, and the smell of all the boys' dirty clothing made him once again think about leaving and pretending to have never found the gymnasium.

The ponytailed boy shook his head and calmed himself. "No, Neji told him to ask you when Lee asked him." he said, still smiling. Kiba turned towards the pale boy, glaring. Apparently, though, he was slightly intimidated by the older boy, for he didn't say anything. A few lockers down from Neji, Naruto saw Sasuke as he closed his locker, apparently already changed. He wore a white shirt with the school symbol on one shoulder and blue shorts reaching to his knees.

Naruto wondered if he had to change into the the uniform when he saw more boys in similar clothing. He inwardly frowned—determined to keep his cheerful facade on the outside—not really wanting to let anyone know about how his past had forever been engraved on his body. He was brought out of his thoughts when a man, that appeared to be an older version of Lee, kicked the door open yelling, 'Dynamic Entry!'

"Boys," he began when the boys who still weren't used to him doing that started calming down, "the locker room is closing soon, get out before I lock you in here." he said, turning to leave when he spotted Naruto. "Why haven't you changd, and who are you for that matter, Youthful boy." he asked, commenting on how Naruto had a large grin on his face.

"Oh. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm new and I was wondering if I have to change into clothes like theirs." the blond pointed towards the other boys. The teacher nodded.

"Yes, you must wear the uniform of youth, that Jiraya and I, Maito Gai, picked for the students. Tell me what size you are and I'll give you one." he stated, walking over to a door near the entrance of the locker room and unlocking it. Naruto told him and when he received the clothes, he looked at the teacher.

"Uh," he faked a nervous smile, "Maito-sensei, can I talk to you outside?" asked the blond. The green-clad man looked at him questionably before nodding. Walking outside and closing the door behind them, Naruto began. "Is there any way that I can change somewhere private?" he asked. Maito raised an eyebrow.

"What, are you shy or something? Homophobic?" he answered with a question. Naruto's eyebrow twitched, something he had learned from staring blankly at Tayuya as she bothered him; when she got annoyed of his constant ignoring her, her eyebrow would twitch.

"Not really, it just... well..." Naruto, figuring he could trust the teacher to not tell the students, unzipped his jacket before taking his left arm out of the sleeve. With just the black tank top underneath, the marks of his past, as Naruto called them, were visible. A thin tattoo line was visible on his shoulder, reaching from his back, and going down his arm, wrapping around it, before ending right past his elbow. "I'd rather avoid people knowing about these." he said, watching Maito's surprised face. "Some people will be offended by the ones on my back." he added.

Maito took a moment to regain himself; it had been brought up at the meeting about the boy. He had marks on his body that were part of the reason he had been in the J.D.C. Nodding, he led Naruto to his office. "Here, you can change in the teachers' locker room." he said, receiving a thankful smile from Naruto.

Though the smile wasn't real, the thanks had been. While the blond knew that some students would be intrigued by the tattoos, he also knew, however, that because of their religious beliefs, most would be offended and would berate him about them. _'I'd rather get into another staring contest with Gaara.'_ he thought, thinking back to the red haired boy who had gotten out on probation a few months before. The red head had been the only patient not intimidated by Naruto back at the Detention Center.

When Maito left, Naruto changed—though when he found elbow and knee braces, he put them on, one on each arm and one on his left leg. Walking out afterwards, he was greeted by students, boy and girl, staring at him. Smiling widely, Naruto walked of to join the boys on the right side of the gym. Once there, Lee called him over.

"How come you came out of the teachers' locker room, Naruto-kun?" he asked when the blond was within earshot. Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well... I'm kinda homophobic." Naruto lied, using Maito's second guess. "Add in the fact that I'm shy about taking off my clothes—Yeah." he added, using Maito's first guess. Lee seemed to accept the excuses. "Anyways, what do you guys usually do at gym?" he asked, causing Lee to smile.

* * *

-- Girls' Half of the Gym, Same Time--

Sakura and a lot of the girls had been busy staring at and comparing all the boys when the blond boy—Naruto if she heard Tenten right—come out of the teachers' locker room. The action made almost everyone glance at him confused. And while she noticed that a few of the girls had already begun comparing Naruto, giving him quite a few good remarks, she began thinking about the stunt the boy tried to pull that morning, and about how Tenten had said that he was actually pretty cool.

However, looking at the dumb grin currently plastered on his face, Sakura wondered if Tenten had been high on magic marker when she meet with him—it wouldn't be the first time one of her friends sniffed a marker... or white out... or eraser shavings. Bringing herself out of her thoughts, she saw Lee call Naruto towards where he and the rest of their group were.

"Forehead, put your eyes back in your head and stop drooling over the new guy." an annoying smug voice came from behind Sakura, making the rosette sigh. Turning away from the direction of the boys—missing when Naruto was called over by Sasuke's group—she glared at Ino.

"You should go back to using glasses instead of contacts, Ino. Even a bat could see I only have eyes for Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, matching the bleach blond girl's glare. She used to wear glasses in elementary but switched to contacts the month before she and Sakura stopped being friends. And while no one new, besides Sakura, Ino's eyesight was actually very poor without contacts.

"You know Sakura, Sasuke might actually look at you if you tried using push up bras. Oh, wait, you already do." Ino snapped, making the other girl glare at her. Sakura had always been self conscious about her appearance, her chest coming in second only to her forehead.

"Alright, my Youthful charges, let us begin our warm up exercises!" Gai yelled, cutting Sakura off when she was about to retort. "Girls, I want you to do three sets of thirty push ups, three sets of thirty sit ups, and three sets of thirty leg extensions." he ordered before turning to the boys. "Boys, the same thing only double." the boys groaned, wondering why Gai always made the girls do only half the work they did.

* * *

Naruto occupied a spot near Sasuke and his friends, but also near Lee and his friends. Naruto hadn't expected that Neji would be part of Sasuke's group; he had figured he would be with Lee, seeing as they were of the same age. When they finished, Maito addressed the room again.

"Alright, generation of youth, you have a choice between playing soccer on the girls' side of the gym, or playing dodgeball on the boys side. Do I have any youthful volunteers to bring out the nets and equipment?" the kids were all silent, except for Lee who immediately threw his hand in the air. "Lee, my youthful protege, I knew I could count on you. Any other volunteers? " he asked again, getting complete silence. "Such hip attitude." Maito proclaimed before adding, "Tenten, please help Lee get the equipment."

Looking over towards the girls' half of the gym, Naruto saw that Tenten was walking to the storage room, which was on the girls' half, and he also noticed, for the first time, that the pink haired girl was in his class. _'Hn. I wonder how I didn't notice before? That head sticks out like a sore thumb.'_ he mused.

"Well, if it isn't the new guy." a smug voice said, snapping Naruto's attention from the sight of Lee and Tenten struggling to separate the two soccer nets. "If I were you, I wouldn't play dodgeball. If I see you on the field, I'm gonna throw an extra hard one at you." it was Inaho, the boy that bumped into Naruto the period before. He walked off, smirking in a way Naruto guessed was supposed to intimidate him.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned back towards the direction of Lee and Tenten, raising an eyebrow when he saw that Lee was somehow stuck between the two nets, while Tenten was trying desperately to get him out.

"Tenten-chan, get me out of here!" Lee shouted, trying to get out, only managing to tangle himself up. "Tenten-chan!" said girl was trying to pull the nets apart, but he had managed to tangle the two nets together. Tente—"

"I'm trying!" she yelled, getting fed up with the bushy browed boy. "Guys, help me out, would you!?" She yelled towards the pink haired girl who was laughing along with Kiba and the other two boys from their group as well as a majority of the class. They walked over and while Tenten untangled Lee, the rest pushed the nets apart. Once out, Lee hugged all of his friends in gratitude. They then proceeded in setting up the nets on opposite ends of the room on the girls' side.

* * *

As expected, most of the girls decided to play Soccer, reasoning that it wouldn't hurt as much, while most of the boys played dodgeball. Among the girls that decided to play dodgeball were Sakura and Tenten. There were six other girls who wanted to play dodgeball as well, however Sakura didn't know them that well. Sakura noticed that among the boys that decided to play soccer were Sasuke (she frowned when she noticed he was over there, but she really wanted to play dodgeball.), Neji, Lee and the blond new kid. Most of Sasuke's group went along too, obviously because the raven haired and lavender eyed boys went.

After being separated into teams—thankfully Sakura and Tenten were on the same one—they began. It was pretty much a one sided fight, with the only difficulty being Kiba and that bully Idaho. While she managed to last pretty long, and take out a few people (Like Shikamaru.) Sakura was eventually hit by a random ball. Frustrated, she walked over to the wall, to wait for the match to be over. Glancing over towards the teens playing soccer, she smiled, stars in her eyes, when she saw Sasuke was crossing everyone on the opposing team. The moment was short lived when a blond blur stole the ball from the raven haired boy.

Following the ball, Sakura was surprised to see Naruto—she though was his name; she hadn't been paying so much attention to Tenten—was doing as well at crossing the members of Sasuke's team as Sasuke had to his own. After getting it all the way to the other team's goal, he passed the ball to Ino, who tried to kick it in only to have it bounce off the pole. From there, Lee began taking it back to the other side, apparently he was on Sasuke's team.

"Hey, Sakura, pay attention!" Tenten shouted, making Sakura stop 'watching the game.' "New round. Are you playing?" Tenten asked. The rosette nodded, and got up—when had she sat down?—to get back on the field. During that round, sakura managed to take out Kiba, one of the main players of the other team, early in the match. She lasted longer than the previous round, even lasting longer than Tenten.

The brunette was eventually hit by Idaho, hard, in the face. The boy laughed while Sakura and her friends asked her if she was okay. With slightly watery eyes, the girl told them she was fine. The game continued when the soccer ball flew right by Sakura's face, about an inch away from hitting her, and hit the wall to the right of Kiba. Surprised the girl fell back on her butt, her heart racing from the close impact.

"Sorry, Sakura-san!" Lee's voice yelled out. She turned in time to see someone running past her. His shirt had sweat stains around the neck, both in front and on his back, and around his armpits. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, disappearing briefly behind his shades before reappearing on his cheeks. Yellow hair hung down around his face, clinging slightly anywhere it met skin. His face still had a smile on it, but it was more of a grin as he ran to retrieve the ball.

It took her a while to notice that it was Naruto—she remembered his name now— that was the one running to retrieve the soccer ball. Snapping out of her trance, Sakura turned her attention back to the game, just in time to see the sinister smirk that spread across Idaho's face as his eyes followed the blond boy and his hand tightened it's grip on the dodgeball he had in his hand.

* * *

As Naruto ran to get the ball, he had the odd feeling he knew particularly well; the feeling of being watched. After all, he had been kept under close watch by all of the guards, and a few of the girls, back at the J.D.C. He knew when someone was watching him, and could almost tell if they meant harm or not. For a few seconds, he felt someone watching him as if wondering who he was, but then he sensed ill will directed towards him.

When the husky boy from Lee's group threw him the ball, he caught it, muttering a quick, 'Thank you,' before tuning to return to the other side of the gym. His eyes caught the form of Idaho as he reared his hand back with a dodgeball in hand, clearly getting ready to throw it at the blond boy. Acting quickly, Naruto threw the soccer ball up slightly, before kicking it towards Idaho at the same time said boy launched the dodgeball at him.

The two spheres met in the middle, with the soccer ball containing more force due to the fact that a kick produced more strength than a throw. The red rubber ball bounced back towards Idaho, dropping in altitude along the way, while the soccer ball veered off it's original course, causing it to head in the direction of the students waiting for it. While Sasuke caught the ball heading towards him, the same couldn't be said for Idaho.

With a pained grunt, the brown haired boy fell to the ground, clutching his family jewels in pain. A second later, almost every student burst into laughter, pointing at the downed teenager writhing in pain. Even Sasuke's group was laughing, with Sasuke and Neji sporting amused grins on their faces. Naruto himself only plastered a wide false abashed smile on his face, rubbing the back of his head as he'd seen Umino do when he had made a mistake.

Jogging back to the soccer game, Naruto inwardly frowned when some people where praising him. He briefly thought that his act of self preservation would undeniably make people take an interest in at least talking to him, if not in wanting to be his friend. His assumption was proven right when the moment he reached the girls' side of the gym, he noticed a few, not more than six, girls giving him appreciative glances. Some of the guys also sent him looks of acceptance. Not a lot, Naruto noted, but he would rather people didn't hassle him.

The rest of the period continued regularly until Maito blew his whistle, stating that any people who wanted to shower should do it quick, as the bell was ten minutes away. Naruto's team had lost by a single point, the final score being two to three. Some students blamed the blond girl, Ino, because of the time she had 'accidentally' passed the ball to Sasuke instead of Naruto for an easy goal.

Waiting for everyone to leave, Naruto walked over towards Maito. "There wouldn't be a shower for the teachers, would there?" he asked, receiving a wide smile.

"Of course, Naruto-kun. We gym teachers have the opportunity to shower as well before leaving to lunch and leaving for the day." he said, leading the younger male to the teachers' locker room. Inside, there was a door at the end, which Maito unlocked. "I'll leave the key in there, just lock up when you're finished." he said before leaving, only to pause on the way out, adding, "Oh, and just leave your uniform in the pile over there." he pointed to a hamper of dirty clothing. "The school washes them during the weekends." With that he left, leaving Naruto on his own.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she walked out of the shower room, steam making its way out behind her before she closed the door. She considered the showers at school the only good thing about her daily schedule. She favored the shower heads at the school over the ones at her house, for the sole reason that they released slightly more pressurized water than hers. It made her feel cleaner, thinking that the high force of the water washed the dirty away better.

Walking over to her shared locker, she couldn't help but think of what Ino said at the start of the period concerning her breast size as she observed how some girls had _real_ chest, not small mounds like her. Although her friends, both female and male sometimes, had reassured her that she had a nice chest and that she'd fill out eventually, she couldn't help but be stubborn and disagree.

"How do you do it, Hinata?" she asked when she saw her violet haired friend shed her towel to put on her shirt, already having put her bra and spare panties on while covered by the towel like Kurenai had advised them to do. ('You never know if someone has a camera waiting for you girls to take your towels off after showering,' she had said.) The girl only blinked, confused.

"Do what, Sakura?" Hinata questioned, wondering what the rosette was talking about.

"You know; how did you get your boobs so big?" Sakura proceeded even when her mind told her to drop the subject. It wasn't like they were hiding some growth secret from her. The lavender eyed beauty blushed, not knowing how to answer the question. She was spared when Tenten walked over to them, sighing.

"Jeez. Not this again, Sakura." the brunette said exasperated as she pulled her own spare panties from the locker, Sakura doing the same. As they went to pull them up their legs with their towels still on, she added, "How many times have we gone over this? You'll fill out soon." When they reached for their bras, she murmured, "At least you have more time. I'm almost eighteen and I'm only a few sizes bigger than you are."

Sakura bit her lip, feeling guilty that she was whining about something so superficial while her friend, who wasn't much better bestowed than her, didn't complain. "Sorry." she whispered as they hooked the garments of clothing before sliding it over their shoulders, putting it on much the same way they put on their training bras, pushing the towels down as their breast were covered.

"Don't worry about it. I know it's all because of what Ino said." Tenten stated, receiving a small nod from Sakura as the blond girl mentioned turned her head at the sound of her name. "Don't listen to her. I'm sure Sasuke doesn't care about looks." Although Tenten thought Sakura should stop wasting her time on a guy who for all anyone knew could be gay, she would support her friend as long as she had to until she either achieved her goal or changed her mind. The brunette hoped the girl would change her mind soon and possibly date someone sweet, like Lee. She felt her stomach tighten quickly at the thought but didn't think much of it.

They finished dressing and waited for the bell to ring before heading to lunch to join their friends.

* * *

Naruto walked down the stairs heading to the cafeteria. He had bathed, though unfortunately he had to resort to putting on his dirty boxers lest he be forced to go 'commando.' He had entertained the idea before realizing that he would then have to carry the dirty article of clothing around for the whole world to see. While he didn't care if others saw his green with orange swirl bowers, he didn't feel like carrying it around all day.

As he walked down the emptying hall, he was greeted by Sasuke's friends as they walked to the doors of the cafeteria. They invited him to sit with them, but Naruto, knowing that hanging out with the 'cool' kids would definitely cause people to notice him and would boost his 'popularity'—if he even had any—declined. He lied, saying that he had already been invited to join Lee and his friends.

"Those losers?" one of the boys said, not noticing how Neji's fists clenched. "Surely you can blow them off, can't you? I'm sure you'll be happier with the girls that sit near us, especially since all the girls that they have are pretty ugly."

"Not all, that Hinata chick is kinda hot." another boy said, smirking before his eyes widened and he turned towards Neji. "Not that I was really loo—"

"Since you already have an appointment with other people, you should keep your word." Neji's indifferent voice cut the boy off. Naruto nodded, though he didn't plan on sitting with Lee—or anyone for that matter. Walking off to the other side of the cafeteria, he searched for an empty table as the group left to eat outside.

* * *

"All I'm saying is that dogs are better." Kiba said as the group walked to lunch. Somehow he and Sakura had gotten into an argument—over which were better; cats or dogs?—when he told everyone his parents were getting him a puppy for christmas in two months.

"You wish. Cats are better; they're cuter and clean themselves. You have to practically knock a dog out to give it a bath." Sakura retorted. When she had told Kiba that he should tell his parents to get him a cat like her parents had for her, he had stated that cats were stupid and that dogs rocked. "Speaking of which, did the guys run out of tranquilizers, you stink."

Kiba's eyes narrowed, catching what she meant. "For your information, I was the last one out of the showers because I was washing myself over again." he declared. Shikamaru put a hand to his chin.

"I thought it was because you dropped the soap and didn't trust the guys to not do something while you got down to pick it up." he muttered, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I don't trust that homo, Migaki, and that's beside the point!" Kiba yelled as they walked into the cafeteria on their way outside. The only way for a student to go outside without getting in trouble was to go through the cafeteria so that the guards could make sure those who went out belonged in that period.

"Hey, look, it's Naruto." Tenten stated, making everyone turn in the direction the brunette girl was pointing. The blond boy was indeed there, sitting by himself with his head resting on his arms on the table.

"I'm going to invite him to join us." Lee said when he saw the boy was by himself and, to him, it looked like he was lonely. He ignored the protests from some of his friends, Sakura being one of the protesters. "Hey, Naruto-kun," the blond looked up, "Want to join me and my friends outside?" he asked.

"Uh. I don't know. I fell in the shower and now my head hurts. I don't really feel like going outside." Naruto responded, grinning slightly.

"Oh. Alright." Lee responded, walking back to his friends as Naruto put his head back down. When he neared his friends, they seemed to be confused as to why the blond wasn't walking with him, but relieved at the same time. "He said he doesn't feel like going outside. Says his head hurts."

"Lee; I know that look. What are you thinking?" Tenten demanded, narrowing her eyes, causing the boy to scratch his cheek and laugh nervously.

"I was sort of thinking that... we should join him." he said, getting the same reaction from all of his friends.

"What!?"

"Come on, we all know what it's like the first day; not knowing anyone and hoping you'll have someone to sit with." he reasoned, though his friends still didn't seem to keen on the idea. "I won't force you guys, but I'm sitting with him." Lee turned to leave before he heard a sigh.

"I guess I have to go, to make sure he doesn't kill himself when he can't handle your 'youthfulness.'" Tenten said, smiling. It wasn't long before everyone else decided to go as well. The only one who hadn't agreed was Sakura. "Sakura, you coming?" Tenten asked, looking at the girl.

Sakura didn't know how to answer. She wanted to go outside to at least try to talk to Sasuke, but if her friends were staying inside, would she look too much like a fan girl? She knew Sasuke hated those types of girls, for she used to be a full fledged one before. But her friends wanted to sit with the idiotic new guy; the one that tried a stunt from a movie, almost down to a tee. The one who had made her heart race for those _few_ seconds she got a close look at him.

_'Argh! God dammit! I knew my crush for Sasuke-kun was fading, but for it to be gone enough for me to like the new guy—of all people—is ridiculous!'_ she thought. She made up her mind after that thought. "Um, I think I'm going to head outside. I want to get some fresh air." she said, apologetically. She was determined to get rid of any treacherous feelings for anyone other than Sasuke.

As she walked to the door leading outside, Sakura didn't meet Tenten's eyes, knowing that the girl would try to talk her out of searching for the Uchiha. It sometimes surprised her how much the older girl knew her. _'I shouldn't be surprised, though. She is one of my best friends, after all.'_ Sakura thought as she stepped outside, the cold October air hitting her face and making her wish she had grabbed her jacket out of her locker when she put away her dirty pair of panties until the end of the day, when she would take them home to be washed.

Searching the school grounds, she saw Sasuke to the left sitting on one of the benches near the stone tables. He was surounded by his friends and several girls, only a fraction of them being popular. Walking towards them, Sakura spotted a head of bleach blond hair among the many heads that were trying to gain one of the boys attention.

_'Ino.'_ Sakura thought angrily as she got closer to the group surrounding Sasuke. Though the closer she got, the more she felt like turning back and joining her friends with the blond new kid—she didn't want to call him by his name, for fear that it would get stuck in her head, during which case it would be harder to focus solely on Sasuke.

* * *

-- Same Time Cafeteria --

Naruto sat by himself, content that he could have a moment of peace. He had already messed up his plan of not being noticed, twice. Once by changing in the teachers' locker room, though he guessed that couldn't be helped—better to have people wonder why he changed in there than to have everyone find out about his personal matters—and again when his reflexes took over during gym. The fact that Sasuke's friends, the popular group, seemed to have taken a liking to him wasn't helping. He could not let himself be seen with them; complications were sure to rise.

Naruto's ears perked when he heard shuffling near him and the chairs of his table being pulled out soon after. _'Fuck...' _he thought when he glanced up, seeing Lee and his friends sitting down. Lee smiled at him when he looked up.

"Hope you don't mind, Naruto-kun; we decided that if you couldn't go outside with us, we'd join you here." he said, placing his tray in front of himself. Then he noticed something. "Hey, Naruto-kun, aren't you going to eat?" he asked, noting that Naruto didn't even have an empty tray.

"I'm not that hungry, Lee. I think it's cause of my headache." he lied. He had never fallen, but he had wanted to be left alone. He wasn't a social person. No doubt having lived with mentally deranged teens for the last few years had a part in his inability to socialize. "Plus, I didn't bring any money." he said, smiling. That part was true. Yamato hadn't even given him a single penny and the cheapest item on the lunch line was a dollar. He was slightly taken aback when a hand held out a small tray of french fries.

"It's not much, and not the healthiest thing, but here." It was Tenten. She had a warm smile, as if to try to persuade him to take the offering. "They give them with any of the specials you order, whether you want them or not and I'm trying to lose weight so take them." she added when Naruto was about to deny her. Figuring he had no say in the matter, he obeyed, taking the fries.

The next few minutes were spent talking; well they talked, Naruto mostly listened, only voicing his opinion when they asked him something. Then they were interrupted when a chair was pulled up between Lee and Tenten, where the pink haired girl soon sat.

* * *

Sakura sat down dejectedly. She hadn't even managed to talk to Sasuke seeing as Ino had seen her coming and decided to confront her.

"_Hey, forehead, where are your friends?" she had asked before adding with a smirk, "Don't tell me you came out just to bother Sasuke-kun? He doesn't like annoying fan girls." by then, almost all of the people in the crowd had turned towards her, including Sasuke. Sakura's cheeks had tinted red slightly when the raven haired boy looked at her._

"_N-No." she answered when she found her voice again. "I just came to... remind you not to forget we have to work on our science project." she'd lied. Well it was true that they did have to work on their project, but it wasn't why she had gone out. Then again, trying to see Sasuke hadn't been the only reason she'd gone out, either. She wanted to get away from the new student she might-sort-of-kinda-maybe had the tiniest bit of a crush on._

_Ino smirked. "Jeez. I knew you were a square, but I didn't know that school assignments mattered more to you than hot guys." Ino said loud enough for the whole crowd to hear. Some girls laughed—_'Like the shallow bitches they are.' _she had thought—while others just watched, wanting to know how the rosette would respond._

_Sakura just bit her lip while her hands tightened into fists. Without being able to make a single comeback, she turned and marched off._

She sat with her head on her backpack, which she had put on the table, ignoring the looks her friends were sending her. Part of the reason for her behavior was because of what happened outside, but it was also because she did not want to get to know the blond. If she might-sort-of-kinda-maybe had the tiniest bit of a crush on him after seeing him for a few seconds in gym, what would happen if she got to know him? She didn't want to find out.

"Hey, Lee, who the hell is she and what's wrong with her?" Naruto asked loudly; obnoxiously. The question made Sakura lift her head, her eyes narrowed. She was definitely not gonna develop a crush on someone like that when she had her crush on Sasuke. Or so she repeated to herself.

"That's Sakura-chan. She's the prettiest girl in this school. Though I don't know what's wrong with her." Lee responded, making Sakura sigh. Lee was sweet, and if she didn't like Sasuke, she might have considered going on a date with him. Though, she doubted she would even if she didn't like Sasuke. As sweet as Lee was, he was too... weird was the only word she could think of.

"Maybe she's PMSing." Kiba suggested as he drank his chocolate milk. Sakura fisted some of her backpack's material. Kiba was the last type of person she would consider if she ever got over her crush on Sasuke. Sure he was wild and playful, but he didn't know when to stop. Besides, the fact that she and him were exact polar opposites didn't help. She doubted he was boyfriend material, anyways. Kiba was the type of guy that would rather try to play the field for a while before he ended up getting some poor girl pregnant. In which case, he would have to marry her—She knew that even he had a sense of honor.

"Maybe she lost her homework." Shikamaru provided, poking fun at the fact that she was a straight A student. While he was calm all the time, almost to the point of being cool, he was too calm. It made him plain lazy. He'd rather spend two dollars a day than walk down the street to his house. Sure, it was nine, almost ten blocks away, but still on the same street as the school. Sakura didn't know why he didn't just bring his scooter to school, seeing as the street had a small slope to it.

Sakura guessed if he could lose some of what made him so lazy, he could be boyfriend material. If only he didn't think everything besides 'chilling' was to 'troublesome.'

"Maybe she lost her money or something?" Chouji threw in his two cents. Chouji was possibly sweeter than Lee, but not in the same way. While Lee was sweet in the way he complimented everyone, Chouji was sweet in the way that he helped everyone. He was a kind boy. If he took better care of himself, he would probably have had a few girlfriends already. But Sakura doubted she could handle someone being nice and only thinking about her, asking what she wanted all of the time.

_'God, is it too much to ask for there to be someone that is sweet, knew when to be wild and when to be calm and was nice, while still being cool?' _she thought. She knew it was an unreasonable request, but she was allowed to dream, wasn't she?

"Uh...huh..." Naruto's voice seemed somewhat confused. He was silent for a while before he said, almost as if he was talking to himself, "I guess someone who decides to dye their hair pink would be hard to understand."

"It's fucking natural!" Sakura shouted as she stood up, ready to leap across the table to strangle the blond. She hated when people assumed her hair color was fake, even though it was a color she didn't know was possible._ 'He definitely will never fit my description of a dream guy.'_ she thought furiously. She was being held back by Tenten and Lee as Naruto had a confused expression on his face.

"Did I say that out loud?" he asked, rhetorically. Kiba nodded while laughing.

"Don't worry, I thought it was a dye job, too, when I first met her." he admitted as he patted Naruto on the back from his seat to Naruto's left.

"Come on, Sakura, he didn't know. Don't get angry." Tenten tried to reason with her friend. To be honest, she didn't think—and deep inside still didn't believe—it was real when she first met Sakura. She let go of the girl when she figured she had calmed down and together they all sat down.

"Seriously? Swear to god?" he asked her, seeming to still not believe.

"Yeah." Sakura answered, somewhat pouting, as she averted her eyes from the blond, a slight pink tint on her face. He was smiling softly—one never seemed to leave his face, only _morph_ into another type of smile without anyone noticing—and his spiky blond hair was framing his face. He was still slumped in his seat, his chin resting on his arms that were crossed on the table. Even the shades helped his appearance, not looking cheesy even though he was inside. Dammit, he looked cool!

"Well, that's... weird..." He just had to ruin his moment of looking cool. Again, Sakura stood up, ready to pounce, only to be stopped by Lee and Tenten again. His smile didn't look soft anymore—at least her in her mind it didn't—it looked smug. Looking for something she could use as a comeback, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"At least I don't have stupid... whiskers!" she yelled. For a moment, she didn't know what to call them, but then the picture of her cat came into her mind. Then she noticed it; it was quick and minute and she doubted anyone else saw it, the only reason she had was because she had sharp eyes and a fast mind. His smile twitched and the material of his jacket's sleeves looked like his fists gripped them for a second. Had she hit a cord?

* * *

At that moment, Naruto knew he wasn't going to get along with the pink haired girl. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." he said, excusing himself from the group. He was aware of the fact that they were watching him as he left. Once he was inside the boys' bathroom. He stared at the small circular mirror above the sink as he washed his hands. Taking off his shades, he decided to wash his face as well.

He stared at his reflection; a pair of twin lifeless orbs staring back at him. For a moment, the image of his reflection in the teachers' locker room came into his mind(He guessed it was there to let them know if they were presentable; they did have to walk around a school filled with hormone driven teenagers and some of the female teachers did have good figures.). He shook his head, clearing the images from his head.

Putting his shades back on his face when he heard the door open, he walked out. Once outside he walked back to the table, slipping his fake smile back on along the way. "Ah, feels good to empty out the tank." he said as he sat back down. They grinned but otherwise didn't respond. Though everyone seemed to be looking back and forth between him and Sakura. Except for the pale eyed girl, Hinata, who glanced between him and Kiba while twiddling her fingers.

"Sorry... if I... offended you." Sakura's voice was low and she seemed to struggle to speak, almost like it was against her nature to apologize. By the way her eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at the table, Naruto didn't doubt it. When she glanced up at him, as if expecting him to respond, he did.

"Oh, you were talking to me?" he asked, grinning falsely as he watched how her eyebrow twitched. It made him wonder if Sakura and Tayuya knew each other. They seemed to act the same, and had similar reactions. Only difference was that Tayuya's left eyebrow would usually twitch as opposed to Sakura's right one.

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe it. After her friends had forced her to do something she rarely ever did—she would never admit she was wrong and would always change the subject whenever she was supposed to apologize—and Naruto didn't even know she was talking to him. She thought about moving to strangle him, but knew that Lee and Tenten would surely stop her again. Besides, she doubted it would be worth a suspension to strangle the blond.

Before she got a chance to say anything, the bell rang, signaling them to get to their next class. As she was getting up, she heard Lee begin a conversation with Naruto.

"What class do you have next, Naruto-kun?" he asked, making Sakura remember that he was a grade higher than her.

"I've got Math in room one twenty-nine." he answered, surprising Sakura, and a few of the group when he didn't take out his schedule. This was his first day, wasn't it? "You guys?" he asked Lee and Tenten.

"I've got science, but Lee has Math." Tenten responded, smiling as she patted the boy on the back. "He'll take you there." she pushed Lee gently. Naruto smiled at their antics before he turned his gaze towards Sakura, causing her to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"I appreciate the apology, but you didn't have to apologize. I just left to take a piss." he said, his smile widening. "I should have been the one to apologized for not asking before assuming." with that he walked away. Sakura stared at his retreating back as he and Lee walked off, accompanied by Shikamaru and Chouji, who had Math in the same part of the school.

"Hey, I thought you said you were gonna apologize!" Sakura yelled when she realized he never did. The blond turned and shot her a wide mocking—once again, her mind made it seem that way—grin.

"I said I should've been the one, but since you already did..." his voice trailed off as they turned after they were out of the cafeteria, leaving Sakura fuming, entertaining the idea of chasing him down to make him apologize. It would only be fair that he apologize after she had to.

"Come on, Sakura. You don't want to be late for Medical, do you?" Tenten said, snapping the rosette out of her thoughts.

"Shit! Shizune-sensei's gonna kill me if I'm late." she said as she ran out of the cafeteria through one of the other exits, followed by her friends. Shizune had told the students to call her by her first name because she wanted them to think of her as their friends as well as their teacher. However, she was only a good friend if they got to class on time. And the teacher part of her didn't hesitate to give out a detention. Probably part of the reason her students never wanted to be late to her class.

Sakura sighed when she managed to get to her seat the very second the bell rang and couldn't help but giggle as she watched her teacher welcome the late students kindly, individually, before telling them they had detention. Once everyone was sitting down, with some people grumbling under their breath about how she was being unfair to give them detention for being a few seconds late, Shizune began the class.

"Can anyone tell me where we left off?" she asked, like she did at the start of every class. It was a way to see how many people were paying attention the previous day. A few hands shot up, wanting to receive the treat Shizune gave to the person that answered that particular question. "Yes, Sa—"

"Sorry I'm late." Ino's voice was heard as the blond walked in, her cheeks flushed and clearly out of breath. "My locker's on the other side of the school." she explained walking into the class, her eyes narrowing as she spotted Sakura's pink haired head at the front of the class. _'Nerd.'_ she thought.

"And you are?" Shizune asked, making the blond haired girl smile sweetly and stand up straight.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Yamanaka Ino; I was transferred into your class Kangoshi-sensie." Ino said as she bowed politely. Shizune smiled nervously.

"Okay then, but, please, call me Shizune-sensei. I want us to be like friends, not just teacher and student." she said. Sakura, and a few other students, stifled a laugh at how Ino agreed, not knowing Shizune would only be her friend as long as she was a good student.

_'Ino; a good student? Ha!'_ Sakura thought, as she watched the blond girl take a seat in the back. _'It's like Kiba being a gentlemen. Never gonna happen.' _

* * *

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said, smiling falsely in front of his math class. Some of the students were students he had already been in a class with, so they didn't even bother to pay attention. The teacher, a sickly man with long unruly brown hair and dark bags under his eyes, coughed. _(AN/'...' this will represent a pause for when the dude coughs. I don't feel like typing, 'He coughed,' over and over again.)_

"Welcome to my class, Naruto... -kun. I hope that you will not be left behind in the material for we are already on... algebratic equations." he smiled as he dug into his pocket. "Please excuse my coughing... I have very bad asthma." as if to prove his point, he pulled out a small gray inhaler. "Now, please take a seat." he said as he put the inhaler away again.

Naruto obeyed, taking a seat behind Lee. The rest of the class was uneventful, filled with problem solving which Naruto picked up the knack for quickly, but acted as if the problems were too hard. When the bell rang, Naruto got up, ready to head for his last class of the day. On the way he met up with Sasuke and Neji, who seemed to be heading to the same class as he was.

"Hey, Naruto, you better tell Yuuhi-sensei that I showed you were all your classes are tomorrow." Sasuke ordered, making the blond raise an eyebrow for a second before he smiled widely.

"Oh yeah. You were supposed to be by guide." Naruto appeared to have forgotten, but in reality he hadn't. It just made sense to him that the idiot he was acting as would forget something so unimportant. "Yeah, sure. I'll tell her." he said as he and Neji parted ways with the Uchiha. "... Neji, are you and Hinata, like, related, or something?" he asked, feigning ignorance. Even an idiot could tell that they were indeed related.

"Yeah. She's my cousin." he admitted, voice uncaring. "Why?" his tone of voice changed from indifference to threatening. He was sending the blond a glare, which was clearly questioning his motives for asking.

"Just wondering if people with white eyes were common in Konoha district or if it was just cause you were related." Naruto answered truthfully. He had never seen anyone with white pupils. "Why did you think I was asking?" The pale eyed boy took a second to accept his answer before answering himself.

"It's just that—you know what? Forget it." Naruto pouted falsely and tried to make him talk, but really didn't care. So it didn't bother him much when he didn't answer. They arrived to their final class and went to take a seat, Neji in the row closest to the door, and Naruto in the back. The class filled up and the teacher still wasn't anywhere in sight.

_'I've never heard of the teacher being late to the class.'_ Naruto thought after five minutes passed. After another minute, a man with medium sized gray hair, that was styled to hang to the left, covering his left eye, walked in. He wore a dark blue ski mask that covered the bottom half of his face. His visible eye was curved upward in—what Naruto assumed was—a smile.

"Sorry I'm late. Genzou-sensei from photography class was having trouble with his printer and I stopped to help him." he said, ignoring the yells of, 'liar,' by some of his students. "Oh. What's this?" he said when he noticed the head of spiky blond hair in the back. "Who're you?"

Naruto sighed, not caring if people heard for he was tired of introducing himself in every class, before smiling. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm new to the school." the man smiled, or at least Naruto assumed from the way his eye curved upward.

"Welcome Naruto. I'm Hatake Kakashi, and you can call me either Kakashi-sensei, or Hatake-sensei, or just sensei if you'd like." he said, his voice showing that he was a laid back type of person, making Naruto smile. He knew this man was going to be someone he would get along with. "Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed your first day here. We're reviewing how animals have adapted to their environment. Get a textbook and turn to page ninety-eight." he ordered, pointing to the rack in the back of the class. Naruto did as ordered.

As the period passed, Naruto found that that particular class seemed to be a lot calmer than the rest. The students didn't seem as stressed and didn't feel afraid to ask questions and talk with the teacher like in his other classes. Sometimes, Hatake would even disrupt them by telling them about some stories about what he and his roommate did a while back. But even though he talked with the students every so often, he would still tell them to work, during which he would read a little red book he had pulled out of his desk.

The period ended quickly, and students walked out, telling the teacher that they'd see him the next day. Naruto himself walked out doing the same. He walked with Neji until the brown haired boy walked away, saying he needed to go to his locker before his ride showed up. Naruto had waved, smiling as he told the boy he'd see him later, then. He continued walking until he was outside, where he saw kids from both Sasuke's and Lee's group waiting for the bus or other methods of transportation.

"Hey, Naruto!" he heard Kiba's voice yell across the front of the school, waving for him to get closer. Smiling, he went to see what the boy wanted.

"What's up?" asked the blond when he got close enough. The brown haired boy smiled.

"We're going over to my house to play on my Wii. You wanna come?" he asked. Naruto smiled, but didn't know how to decline.

* * *

Sakura walked with her friends to the bus stop. They had agreed to go to Kiba's house to play games and do their homework—though the latter usually involved everyone asking her for the answers and help. Even though she didn't like Kiba because of the fact he was a bit of a jerk, she had to admit that his parents were the coolest for buying him almost practically every game system as soon as it came out. Plus she and the girls liked hanging out and talking with his older sister, Hana, who was in the Shinobi county university, when they got bored of playing games.

That was one of the reasons that the gang usually hung out at his house, or if not at Shikamaru's house as it had a huge backyard. But with the weather getting colder as it neared winter, she doubted they'd be going to Shikamaru's house to play outside much—unless they wanted to have a snowball fight when it finally snowed. Other than the games and backyard, their houses were really the only ones that could fit all of the kids at once, and their parents were already used to having their refrigerator ravished on a daily basis. They even encouraged the kids to eat as much as they wanted.

Then Lee once again told the group that they should invite the blond new kid. Sakura was going to end up strangling the older teen if he didn't stop suggesting for them to include Naruto. Of course, Kiba, who had hit it off with Naruto, agreed completely. Now they were waiting for his answer.

"Wow. Thanks, I'd be happy to go." he said after a few seconds. Kiba smiled and swung and arm around Naruto's shoulders in a playful headlock. As soon as he did, though, a loud car horn made everyone turn. The armored car from the Detention center was in front of the school again. "Aw, man. I guess I gotta go." Naruto said, his smile still on his face but looking apologetic. "Maybe next time." he muttered as he walked off, though everyone was staring at the car that had two men inside.

* * *

Naruto also noticed the fact that there was someone else inside other than Yamato. He tried to get a better view of who it was but the man got out and stood behind the opened door, his upper body blocked by the black metal of the car, before he could. He figured he would have to wait until he got to the car to find out.

"Well, well. Yamato told me but I just had to see for myself." a gruff voice said, laughing when Naruto got into view. "I haven't seen an emotion on your face in years, gaki." it was Morino, the head of the detainment unit. He was in charge of the guards assigned to handle the violent patients, and would usually be the first to arrive when a fight started. Naruto smiled widely at the man.

"Morino-san, please open the door to the back of the car. I'd like to get away from these kids as soon as possible." Naruto said, his emotionless voice betraying his facial expression. Morino raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.

"So it is just a mask? You really are trying to make these other gakis think your dumb?" he asked, getting a nod from Naruto. He smiled darkly. "So you wouldn't like it if I told them that you're faking this whole cheerful routine?"

"I wouldn't necessarily care but I would rather that you didn't." Naruto answered, the false smile on his face still on. His face was getting tired, and he briefly wondered if it could get stuck in a permanent smile. Morino's evil grin turned into a smirk.

"Then I'd suggest you start laughing." Naruto raised an eyebrow but did not drop his smile, aware of all the kids watching, trying to listen to what they were saying. "I said laugh!" Naruto burst out into the most realistic forced laugh Morino had ever heard. The boy obviously acted his emotions out, not just fake them. "Alright, stop." he led the blond to the back doors, both ignoring the strange looks that several teenagers where sending them, before opening them.

"I don't particularly like you, Morino-san." Naruto said after he got into the car when the man was closing the doors. As soon as they were closed, Naruto dropped the smile and sighed in exhaustion. A few second later, the passenger side of the door opened and Morino stepped in. "Yamato-san, why is Morino here?" Naruto asked, his voice returning to it's original emotionless tone.

Yamato smiled as he started the engine. "He needs to take the car back to the Center after I take you home. After all, I have to watch you. Until your probation ends, I'm getting off work at around this time every day." explained the brown haired man. "So how was your first day?" he asked, looking back when he stopped at a red light. The teen was massaging his cheeks.

"Boring." he answered almost instantly. "Though I think I might have messed up my plan to not draw attention to myself." Naruto added, still massaging his sore cheeks.

"Why's that?" Yamato asked, as he made a corner when the light turned green.

"My ideas didn't add up. If I wanted to be left alone, I should have acted as myself, instead of an idiot—" Morino laughed picturing the emotionless boy acting like Suigetsu, a patient from the Kiri district—"but if I don't want them to be pestering me with questions about why I was locked up, I need to act like an idiot, thus drawing attention to myself." he explained, sighing at the end. "I don't remember smiling hurting this much." the blond added as he continued to try to relax his face.

Yamato merely shook his head, a smile on his face. He had come to that realization while he had been driving back to the Detention Center. Though he figured that Naruto wouldn't be able to pull off acting like something he clearly was not. "Well, you'll get used to it, again, soon." he told the young man. He hoped that Naruto would be able to revive his emotions if he spent time with his peers.

After a few minutes, the car stopped and Yamato got out, with Morino scooting over and sitting in his seat. A few seconds later, the back door opened and Yamato motioned Naruto out. Once outside, Naruto took in the scene in front of him. It was a quiet street, lined with apartment buildings ranging from two to three floors with a few houses every here and there. On the windows where a few Halloween decorations, as well as in front of the entrances. There was a parking lot on one side, where he guessed the residents of the street parked their cars, and a few stores near the corners, which also seemed to be decorated for the closing holiday. Overall, it appeared to be a calm street.

"See you later, Ibiki." Yamato said, walking to the door of one of the building with a folder tucked under his hand. Naruto followed, noting that Morino honked on the horn after making a turn so that he could leave the way he came. Following Yamato inside the building, he found that he lived on the first floor.

Yamato's house wasn't clean, but at the same time not messy. The living room was the first room they entered. It was large and spacious, and had a rather large flat screen television—which he guessed was because of the white game system standing next to it—and two black couches, set up in an 'L' facing the television, with one against the wall and one dividing the room. Behind the couch in the middle of the room was a rectangular table, probably able to sit six people, and a computer. Past the table, a hallway led to the kitchen, with two doors along the way. On the walls visible of the kitchen, from his current spot, were another two doors; one leading outside into a small backyard. To the right of the entrance to the apartment was another room, almost as big as the living room, and another door inside of that room, which had things like a billiard table and a dart board.

"It's not much," Yamato brought him out of his trance like state, "but it's enough." He was smiling, clearly kidding. "Okay, your room is that one," he pointed to the right, at the door in the 'play room,' "And that's the bathroom," he pointed to the door on the right of the hallway leading to the kitchen, "and as you can see, that's the kitchen and this is the living room." he finished his quick tour of the house. "Any questions and I'll be in my room, which is the one connected to the kitchen." he added as he walked towards the kitchen.

Naruto blinked, taking in all of the information before heading to his new room. When he got there, he found it was a plain room, having only the essentials—bed, drawers and a closet—but that didn't really concern him. He lied down on the bed, wanting to take a moment to relax and review the day.

* * *

-- Inuzuka House--

"Hey, stop cheating!" Kiba yelled as he swung his control in the air, seemingly trying to swat an invisible enemy. The brown haired girl next to him smirked, doing much the same. She had red tattoos on her cheeks, and wore a dark green sweater that hugged her figure nicely as well as a pair of dark brown pants. Her shoes were off, as were everyone elses, and it was obvious she was a few years older than the rest of the occupants in the room.

"It's called skill, little bro. Try getting some, why don't you?" she retorted as she swung her arm one more time before stopping. "I win." she smiled as her little brother pouted.

"I swear, my control was low on battery or something." he said as his friends were laughing at him.

"Don't worry, Kiba. At least you didn't get hit by your opponent by accident." Tenten said, glancing at Sakura. The pink haired girl smiled, embarrassed, as she apologized for the umpteenth time. "Anyways, we better start our homework. It's already four and we haven't started." everyone groaned and the older Inuzuka got up.

"She's right. You guys can't just have fun all the time. If you could, the world would be a lot more fun, and we wouldn't have school." she said, getting a few laughs from the younger kids. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see what fun I find at the mall while you guys do your boring homework."

"Hypocrite!" Kiba yelled. His sister just laughed before turning around.

"Kidding. I have to put some finishing touches to the house for Halloween." she said, turning around from the way to the door. Immediately after she said that, all of the kids perked up.

"Oh. I wanna help!" Sakura yelled, almost feeling like a little kid again. She loved holidays, whether they were big ones or small ones. Halloween was the one time of year she could play dress up without feeling dumb if someone saw her. Hana rose an eyebrow, as she wasn't the only one to have offered to help.

"If you guys wanted to help, you should have done your homework." the teenagers groaned, making the young adult smile, picturing them as they were two years ago, in eight grade. "Tell you what. You guys finish fast and I'll let you guys help me fix up the backyard." she didn't even finish before the teens started emptying their bookbags, rushing to finish their homework.

"Anyone do the Math homework at school!?" Kiba yelled, getting a nod from Shikamaru.

"You answer the Health class homework questions?" Shikamaru asked as he passed the worksheet. Kiba grinned.

"A class that teaches you about sex. I do the homework just to see if there's anything in there about it yet!" Kiba shouted proudly, handing the lazy boy his own worksheet afterwards.

"Sakura, you do the English homework?" Chouji asked—more like pleaded. The rosette nodded, handing him the answers to the question on the chapter of the book they were reading before continuing her Medical homework. How she hated that she was the only one of her friends that took that class.

"Boy am I glad I did most of my homework at school." Tenten said as she and Lee worked on their Math homework. "Did you finish all your other homework, too, or do you still need to do anything else, Lee?" she asked her friend. He shook his head.

"Unless Gai-sensei gave us any homework, I just need to finish this," he tapped his notebook with his pencil, "and I'm done." he answered. Glancing around the room at his friends who were all scribbling furiously before handing the worksheet to the next person that needed it. "I wonder if Hinata-chan is struggling with her homework right now." he thought out loud.

"I don't know. She has to go home right after school with Neji-kun, remember?" Tenten responded, also wondering if the kind girl was wishing she had help. Then an image of her cool older cousin came into her mind. "But I think Neji-kun would help her if she needed it." Lee nodded, agreeing with her about his rival.

"You're right. After all, the flames of youth burn strongly in him!" he shouted, making everyone turn and 'Shh!' him. He laughed nervously as he scratched his cheek. It wasn't long before they finished copying off of each other.

"Hey, nee-chan!" Kiba yelled as they put away their stuff, seeing as his sister had disappeared.

"What!?" came a voice from the kitchen. The teens walked into the kitchen, where the older girl sat, playing a game on her portable laptop. "What!?" she yelled when she didn't get a response—she hated being called for no reason.

Kiba smirked, putting a finger on his lips as he walked up behind his sister. "We're finished!" he yelled right next to her ear, making her jump before turning around and smacking him across the face, making him hold his face. "Bitch!"

"No one told you to sneak up on me, you little dumbass." she said, noticing the rest of the teens in the doorway. "You guys finished?" she asked, getting a nod from them. "Alright, then help me get the stuff." she ordered and they obeyed, giddy with anticipation. The Inuzuka usually had a Halloween party for the teens of the neighborhood, and their decorations were the best and always different every year.

A few hours went by as they spent their time setting everything up. The backyard was big, not as big as Shikamaru's—not by a long shot—but big enough for at least thirty or so people. They had put cotton spiderwebs, along the fences and hanging off the back porch. There were plastic, but realistic looking, bones and tombstones sticking out at random places, and the shed had been made to look like it was old and haunted—what kind of ghost would haunt a shed, they didn't know but it looked cool.

"Nice job, kids." Hana said as she walked back outside, seeing as they had told her they wanted to do it themselves. "All that's missing is the music and food table, but that'll be brought out the day of the party, which is this Saturday." she grinned, glancing at everyone. She had deliberately left out some decorations; she wanted them to be surprised on the day of the party. "You guys have your costumes? It _is_ costume only."

"I'm gonna be a two headed werewolf." Kiba said, rubbing his hands together to warm them up as he smiled. He somewhat looked like a mad person planning something wicked.

"I wanna be Lara Croft from Tomb Raider." Tenten said, making her friends roll their eyes. She was always Lara, except saying she was from a different edition of the game.

"Hey, Chouji; I'll come as Doctor Frankenstien if you come as Frankenstien." Shikamaru proposed. The large boy grinned.

"Deal. Though I might be a little late, gotta take my cousin's out trick or treating." he said, getting a nod from his lazy best friend. The two had been dressing up in combination costumes since elementary.

"I will come as a youthful martial artist!" Lee yelled.

"That's not fair, Lee. You'll just be coming in your karate uniform." Tenten tried to berate him.

"Yes, but I practice taekwondo. I'm going to be coming as a mixed martial artist!" Lee explained, smiling when Tenten shook her head. "What about you, Sakura-chan?" he asked the pink haired girl, who had been thinking about her costume.

"Hm..." she pondered before snapping her fingers. "I got it! I'm coming as the scariest but most beautiful person ever... principal Tsunade!" she laughed, as everyone shivered before joining in. Hana only raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I think I missed something." she said, making everyone look at her.

"Tsunade is the principal at our school—"

"I figured that part out, but why is she scary but beautiful?" Hana cut Kiba off.

"She's very beautiful, but if you get on her bad side," Tenten shivered, as did the rest of the group, thinking back on when the woman had beat the English teacher, Jiraiya, after accusing him of groping her during a coffee break, "Let's just say, you don't wanna get on her bad side." Hana still seemed confused, but shrugged.

"Well, anyways, it's getting late. You guys want a ride home?" she asked. It was already getting dark, probably almost six thirty. The teens accepted, only Shikamaru declined, as he lived three streets down. They all grabbed their things and put on their shoes before heading out the door, bidding Kiba a good night. "So, Chouji, you're house is closest, right?" Hana asked, putting on her seatbelt. The boy nodded and they drove off.

Sakura was the last one to get off, reason being she was the one that lived farthest. "See you later, Hana. And thanks for the ride." she said as she got out of the car. Her only response was a 'Any time, Sakura,' before the older girl drove off in her blue minivan. Sakura turned to walk down her street, seeing as she had told Hana to drop her off at the corner. Her street was a quiet one, having two to three story apartment buildings. Her family owned one of the only houses on the streets. They shared a backyard with the apartment building next to them. Though, only the residents on the first floor were allowed to go into the backyard.

Walking up to her door, she pulled out the spare key in the potted plant, after realizing she forgot her own set, and opened the door. She immediately smelled the food her mom was cooking and sighed as she took off her shoes.

"Sakura, is that you?" her mother asked from the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom, it's me. Sorry I'm late, but we were setting up the decorations for the party at Kiba's this weekend." she explained, walking into the kitchen. "Will dinner be ready soon?" she asked as she sat at the table, running a hand through her hair.

"In a few minutes. Hopefully your father will be home by then." her mother replied, her brown eyes glancing at the clock above the doorway into the living room. "Anyways, go change and wash up for dinner." her mother ordered. Sakura obeyed with a, 'Hai, Hai.'

"Oh, where's the little fuzz ball?" Sakura asked, pausing and turning at the doorway. Her mother shrugged. "Mom! You were supposed to keep an eye on it!"

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but it disappeared on me when I was talking to your father a few hours ago. I was looking for it, but then time got the best of me and I had to make dinner." the older woman defended herself. "I'm sure it's just sleeping somewhere, though." she reassured her daughter, who still looked worried. The neighbors had a few dogs, of several different sizes and the small kitten was small enough to pass through the fence that held them from roaming free in the backyard.

Sakura nodded, not completely reassured but hoping her mother was right. Kakashi-sensei's friend, as she had come to know him, because she would occasionally see the gray haired teacher over in the back yard when he visited after his friend moved in six months ago, had a lot of mean dogs. Sure there were a few nice ones, like the pug Pakun, but she doubted even that little dog would hesitate to attack a kitten if it saw one.

She walked into her room, only to walk back out stipped to her blouse and underwear carrying a towel on her way to the bathroom. She stopped, though, when she heard familiar scratching coming from the closet in the hall. Arching an eyebrow, she opened it, shaking her head and laughing when she saw the kitten inside. It ran out and into her room.

"Mom, I found it!" she yelled, laughing as she continued to the bathroom.

"Where was it?" she heard her mother's voice from downstairs.

"In the hall closet." Sakura responded, hearing her mother laugh before she closed the door.

* * *

_The room was dimly lit, torches being the only light source. Hooded figures stood around a stone table, their faces covered by the shadows. Some where closer to the table than others, holding a small figure still as it tried to escape from the table. It's efforts were futile, though, as it's arms and legs were chained to the cold stone. The hooded figures left, only to be replaced by another group; this one carrying a metal box and a black pot._

_The figure on the table looked at them, it's deep blue eyes filled with fear, as they surrounded the table, setting their items down on the ground. As they were occupied, the small being on the table turned to the right, catching a glimpse of a man who had his hood off. He had shoulder length silver hair and dull looking green eyes. His face had a look of anticipation, as if he had been waiting for this moment._

_He was blocked out by the hooded figures getting back into place. One of them handed what looked like a short piece of metal to the one on the left. He inspected it for a few seconded before nodding. Instantly, the one at the head of the stone table grabbed the small figures head, one hand on it's chin and the other fisting it's hair tightly. It gave out a small cry of pain, making the hooded figures smile._

_Then, the one with the metal object reached out, touching the item to the small being's face. It was cold and slightly sharp. Pressing harder, it dragged the metal object down in a straight line, making a red line appear near the top of the small child's left cheek. The young child yelled out in pain, tears rolling down the sides of his face. Another person grabbed a small cup and used it to scoop up some of the contents of the pot. He handed it to the person with the dull knife, who lowered it onto the child's face._

_Slowly, he began letting the hot black liquid run down his cheek, making the child cry out again, trying desperately to free it's arms and legs. When the cup was empty, he gave it back to the person near the pot before returning to the young boy on the table. His bright yellow hair now drenched with black ink on one side. _

_He repeated the process of slowly dragging the dull knife down his cheek two more times, each time cutting slightly lower from where the previous cut was made. After each cut, he poured another cup of ink on his face, each time felt agonizingly slower than the last. The child cried out each time they touched him, his tears mixing with the black ink under his head. _

_He cracked open his eyes when after the third cup of ink, they stopped and started shuffling. However, the small blue orbs widened in horror when he saw that they were only moving to the other side of the table. The boy began thrashing when they tried to get back to work, only to have his head jerked back into place by the person above him. Tears still falling down his face, he watched as the hooded person placed the knife on his right cheek. _

_The process began anew; the knife was dragged down his cheek, followed by someone handing the person another cup of black ink, which was tipped slowly and made to run down his cheek. The ink stung as it seeped into the cut, just like it had the previous three times. They continued until there were three lines on that cheek as well, not caring that the boy had pleaded for them to stop. _

_When they finished, they began wrapping his head in bandages, making sure to not smudge or accidentally let any of the ink out of the new marks on the child's face. Through the clothe, the child could hear the conversation happening between some of the hooded men._

"_You didn't even look away, you really are loyal to the group." said a low voice, clearly filled with pride. "Now, only a few more practice ceremonies and we'll perform the real thing on the night of the full moon." the man added._

"_Will I be able to participate in the ceremony?" asked a voice, clearly belonging to someone younger. The first man chuckled._

"_It will be your final initiation procedure." he said as the boy was pulled to his feet and led to them. "Now, take him home and let him rest. Wouldn't want him to fall ill before the big ceremony."_

"_No, we wouldn't. I'll make sure he rests plenty." said the younger voice as he took hold of the boy's shoulders. "Come, Naruto." he said as he lead the boy away._

* * *

A knock on the door woke the blond teen from his nap. Blinking, he sat up, waiting for Umino to walk in. only to remember that he wasn't at the Detention Center anymore. "Come in." he said as he wiped the sleep from his eyes, trying to remember when he had fallen asleep. The door didn't open, however, but he heard Yamato's voice from the other side.

"Hey, Naruto, come eat dinner." he said before he walked away. Naruto stopped rubbing his eyes and blinked. By the way that everything was darker than it was supposed to be, and the light that was coming in through his only window, he guessed the light was off. Standing, he reached for the doorknob, finding it easily in the dark. His vision blury, and slightly tinted red, he walked out.

"Be careful to not wake up the patient directly, as when dreaming, he might be prone to accidentally defend himself." came Yamato's voice from Naruto's left. "Though it has decreased, and he will most likely stop himself, he is still to be watched." he muttered as he took a slice of pizza from the table, after swatting a hand away from it.

"So, they want you to not have any crosses near him, not let him see blood and be careful of waking him?" a familiar yet unfamiliar voice said. "What is he, a vampire?" the voice joked. At that moment Naruto decided to walk into the living room. "Oh, hey, speak of the—what the fuck?"

"What is it?" Yamato asked, turning towards Naruto before he, too, jumped in his seat. "Holy shit, Naruto, what the—" he seemed to remember something. "Oh, so this is what they meant by, 'Patient goes through slight change in appearance at night.'" he said as he stared at the blond's eyes, the sunglasses having fallen while the boy slept. No longer were they a dead pale blue, but now a slitted crimson red. While his blue eyes held pain and sorrow, his red eyes held malice and hatred—most of it being self hatred. His hair was also slightly shaggier compared to it's normal spiky shape during the day.

Naruto stared at the two men, Yamato and Hatake—though he wasn't sure for the man's mask was off. Without the mask, the man had a defined jaw and chin. His mouth was like any other, even though it was currently wide open from shock, and because of it being open Naruto could see that his teeth were perfect. What was he trying to hide with his mask?

"That's Naruto? Seriously?" Kakashi asked after a few seconds. Clearly, he didn't believe that the red eyed teen in front of him was the blue eyed—as he had found out from a shaken Anko during his lunch break—cheerful student. Yamato nodded.

"Yeah. Iruka told me that there would be something about Naruto that would surprise me. And as I work the day shift, I didn't know about those." he said, referring to the blood red eyes behind him, returning back to his pizza and the folder in front of him. It was filled with Information about the teen standing behind him. "Anyways, Naruto, sit down, have some pizza."

The blond obeyed, eying the gray haired man that was still staring at him. "May I help you?" he asked as he grabbed a slice. Hatake blinked before smiling, his eye turning upwards as he did--_'I thought so.'_ the blond thought—and giving a nervous chuckle.

"No. It's just, I never saw a kid with red eyes." he paused, a contemplative look on his face. "Actually, I've never seen anyone with red eyes, period." Naruto nodded, swallowing the food in his mouth before talking.

"My eyes are naturally blue, but they get like this because of my... condition." he took another bite, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Anyways, Hatake-sensei—"

"Call me Kakashi, Naruto, this isn't school."

"—Hatake, why do you wear a mask at school? And for that matter, why are you here?" he asked, watching the man's eyes widen before he pulled up his mask.

"Why bother, Kakashi? He already saw your face." Yamato chuckled as Naruto simply stared at the re-masked man. "Naruto, Kakashi's my roommate. Well, Apartment mate would be a more accurate name but roommate is easier to say." Yamato explained. "And he wears it because he thinks he's a pretty boy and doesn't want to take all the women away from every other man in the world." Yamato took another bite from his pizza. "At least, that's what he says."

"I'm living with one of my students, and next to another one. My life officially sucks." Hatake whined as he dropped his face onto the table. Naruto continued to stare at him, his face emotionless as ever.

"Wait," Naruto started, swallowing what was in his mouth, "what other student lives near here?" he asked as the gray haired man muttuered something like, 'And he's _already_ seen my face.' "Hatake."

"Haruno Sakura lives next door." he said, sighing as he got up, ignoring the fact that Naruto had started choking on his food. Yamato pushed an unopened bottle of water to the boy, not looking up from the folder in front of him. "Though she thinks I only come to visit Yamato, seeing as I only go outside every once in a while. Or at least, she only sees me every once in a while."

"Please tell me that she never comes over here." Naruto asked after he drank almost half of the bottle. Hatake smiled.

"Why; you have a crush on her?" he teased the youngest male at the table. The boy merely blinked before returning to his pizza.

"Hardly. I would just rather not have to smile twenty-four, seven." he responded. "My face still hurts from faking all those smiles today." he rubbed his cheeks.

"Why are you pretending to be a happy-go-lucky type of guy?" Hatake asked.

"I thought it would help me by making the other kids think I was dumb and leave me alone." he answered as he let the pizza crust fall onto the plastic plate in front of him. "But it didn't work like I wanted. So now I have two groups trying to be my friends, Uchiha and Haruno's groups."

"Oh. So you don't want her to go off telling her friends that you're hanging out with their group, instead of with Sasuke's?" the gray haired man concluded.

"No. I just get the feeling she's a violent person, and it'd be in my best interest to stay clear of her unless I can't avoid it." Naruto said, making Hatake laugh. He knew Sakura was the type to speak with actions rather than words in certain situations.

"So you're saying you don't like her?" Hatake asked, his voice clearly amused.

"I'm not saying I don't like her, but at the same time, I don't necessarily like her, either." Naruto answered without missing a beat. Hatake groaned, thinking he liked the cheery simple persona the boy portrayed at school better than the one in front of him at the moment. Not just because the red eyes gave him chills.

"Anyways, enough of the complicated discussion," Yamato said, disrupting the conversation, "let's set some ground rules." he waited to see if they were paying attention before continuing. "Naruto, you will follow all of the rules of your probation—meaning no fighting, no misbehaving and the like." Naruto just stared at him, his eyes giving him the feeling that he was going to lash out at any second. "But you will also not tell anyone that you live with a teacher; people might accuse him of favoritism if you do well in his class, and he might lose his job." Hatake nodded, his hand at his chin. "And you have to try to socialize—and I mean actually socialize. None of this faking to have friends.

"Your probation ends when you show you have returned to being a normal teenager. Afterwards, your rightful legal guardian will be notified and it will be up to him if he wants to take care of you until you turn eighteen. So if you want to ends this quickly, you better find those emotions you lost." Naruto didn't react. "So go out and have actual fun, get a girlfriend, join a team, do something. As long as it's nothing illegal, you have my permission to go for anything you feel like." he finished, grinning at the blond. "That's all. Any questions?"

Naruto shook his head, and Hatake decided to set his own rules. "Naruto, if you tell anyone what my face looks like, I'll let it slip that you're faking being a cheerful idiot." He had to resist the urge to flinch when the boy turned his red eyes to look at him. "Sorry, but it's something _I_ would rather people not know about."

"Fine." Naruto agreed, though he had never planned to tell anyone what the teacher looked like.

"I guess that's my only rule, besides don't give away answers to any of my tests." he said, smiling.

"Well, seeing as there's nothing left, go take a bath, Naruto." Yamato ordered. Naruto nodded, finishing his bottle of water before heading to the bathroom.

"Wait," Naruto paused halfway out of the room, "I don't have any clothes." he said, turning to look at the two older men.

"Oh, the closet in your room has some clothes. I think I got the right size." Yamato answered, once again not looking up from the folder.

"And hurry up, you stink. What did you do, put on the same clothes you wore in gym?" Hatake asked, his visible eye squeezing shut in disgust. Naruto didn't answer, instead choosing to enter the bathroom.

--

A few minutes later, he walked out, a towel around his waist and his dirty clothes in his hands. "Where do I put these?" he asked the two men as he walked towards his room. They were sitting on the couch, Yamato playing a game on the large television—it was some first person shooter and he laughed as he shot someone's head off with a sniper rifle—and Hatake was going over some papers, checking and crossing at the answers. "Hey." he asked again when neither responded.

Yamato backed out of his game and turned towards him. "Yeah, just leave them in the hamper in your room." he said, getting a look at the wet, towel covered boy. He got a look at the tattoos covering his body. On his navel was a spiral with a curved line above and below the spiral, four lines branching off of the curved lines. When Naruto turned, Yamato got a look at the ones on his back. There were four separate tattoos. In the middle of his back was a circle with smaller circles going in a cycle. Among the many shapes inside the small circles, he saw shapes that the folder described as pentagrams and what was known as 'the mark of Lucifer.' On the boy's right shoulder was a six, slightly tiled to the right, while a six tilted slightly to the left was on his left shoulder and an upside down six was on his lower back. They were drawn to look like they were made out of thorn vines, and wrapped around his shoulders and upper arms, the upside down one wrapping around his left leg.

"Did you see them?" Yamato asked Kakashi after Naruto closed the door to his room. The gray hair man nodded.

"Yeah. And you say he got them all between the time he was nine to twelve?" Kakashi questioned, getting a grim nod from his friend. "I can't imagine who would give a boy that young all of those tattoos, and what they represent—makes me sick." Kakashi muttered, grading another paper. Yamato nodded.

"They never caught the group. They're probably still out there, somewhere." Yamato said, turning his game console off, suddenly not in the mood to play anymore.

"No wonder he doesn't want to feel emotions anymore. I think if I'd gone through all of that, I wouldn't have been able to survive." Kakashi said, getting another nod from Yamato. They sat in silence until the door to Naruto's room opened. Said blond, currently red eyed boy walked out, his face blank but somewhat questioning.

"Yamato... mind explaining why no matter what combination I try, my clothes match and make me look... _cool_?" the teen asked. Yamato stared at the boy, currently holding a white button up shirt and black pants with a white dragon up the side in his right and left hands, respectively. He was wearing an orange and black pair of baggy shorts, but no shirt. "Are you trying to make me draw attention to myself?"

Yamato smiled. "No, I got those clothes from the Center. Those types of clothes are what they have, nothing pricey but also not cheap. And I got those yesterday, before I found out about your plan." he admitted. Kakashi eyed the clothing.

"Naruto, if you don't want them, let me use them. I need more variety in my selection for when I go clubbing." the gray haired man commented. Naruto shrugged, holding the clothes out to him only for Yamato to pull the man back by the back of his shirt and plop him back onto the couch.

"No, Kakashi. Those clothes are for Naruto. He doesn't have any other clothes. So he'll have to use them, lest he want to go in the nude." Yamato smirked. "And that would surely draw attention to him." he finished, making the blond boy stare at him before heading to his room, muttering, 'I'm going to sleep.' Yamato turned back around, smiling as he spoke to Kakashi. "It's going to take a while, but I hope he opens up enough to let us see what he really feels inside." the gray haired man nodded as he returned to his work.

"Though I really wanted those pants. They look cool." Kakashi said, before he ducked under a pillow thrown at him.

* * *

Sakura sat on her bed, petting her kitten as she watched TV. After she had showered, she'd gone downstairs to find her dad already home. She welcomed him as they sat down to eat dinner, during which her mother asked if anything new had happened in school.

-

"_Not much. Just got a new student." Sakura had answered as she pushed her rice around. Her mother smiled, knowing those symptoms. The last time her daughter had acted that way was when she had been put in the same class as the Uchiha. Back then, since she had only recently been noticing boys, she had felt odd and uneasy about the way her hands had clammed up whenever the boy was close. It took a few weeks for the woman to convince her daughter that it was natural. _

_Ever since then, though, she hadn't acted the way she was now. She would eat a small portion of her food before claiming she was full. But she was just pushing her food around, taking a bite every once in a while. She hadn't even noticed that she was almost done with her plate. _

"_Is this new student a cute boy?" her mother had teased her, making her blush for a second before she regained her composure. Her father only glanced at the two girls before returning to his food. _

"_Hardly." Sakura responded after a while. "He's totally annoying. Not only is he annoying, he was dumb enough to try to pull of a stunt from a movie! A movie that every teen has probably already seen more than ten times!" she said as she scooped up another spoonful and stuffed it inside her mouth, grumbling._

"_Which movie is that?" her mother asked, curious. _

"_'The New Guy.'" Sakura answered, sounding appalled. _

"_I thought you and your friends liked that movie?"_

"_We do! But we're not dumb enough to try to make people think we were some badass convict from the Shinobi Juvenile Detention Center!" Sakura yelled, her father clearing his throat when she cursed. "Sorry." she apologized. Her mother smiled._

"_I wonder what he did to get sent there." she murmured to herself._

"_He didn't do anything; he just got some guard to help him!" Sakura yelled at her mother, surprised when her spoon hit the empty plate. _'I-I finished it? But I'm supposed to be dieting!'_ she thought. _

"_I don't know. Those guards are really serious about their job. Just take Yamato-san next door." Her mother tried to reason. It took Sakura a few seconds to realize what her mother said._

"_Yamato-san works at the J.D.C.!?" Sakura shouted, surprised. _

"_Well, yeah. You didn't know?" Sakura shook her head furiously. "That's why he has those big dogs, they use them when they take the patients out for a trip if they're good. At least, that's what he said." her mother said, trying to remember the conversation she had the other day with their neighbor. The older Haruno woman laughed when she saw her daughter's expression. "You really should talk to him more often. Then maybe you'd have known." Sakura had only nodded dumbly, before she left as her mother began gathering the dishes._

"_Sakura." her father had called out to her as she walked up the stairs, making her turn to him. "Whether that new boy came from the Detention Center or not, I don't want you hanging out with him." Sakura stared at her father, confused. "Someone that tries something like that is clearly not a good influence." Sakura was about to protest—though she didn't know why—when her father spoke again. "You're a bright girl with a bright future ahead of you. I don't want to hear anything about you befriending or liking some delinquent." his tone of voice told her that it was the end of the discussion. If it could be called that._

-

She didn't know why, but for some reason, the small tiny crush she had developed for the blond boy grew when her father told her to stay away, and was steadily growing as she thought about both what her father said and about the cheerful blond. She hated teenage rebellion, which was what she blamed the growing crush on. It wasn't anywhere near the same level as her crush on Sasuke, but it was definitely bigger than when she was at lunch. Now her stomach fluttered slightly as she remembered his always smiling face.

_'Fuck. Why did my dad have to say that?'_ she thought miserably as she laid the cat down on the rug near her bed. She blamed her many fantasies about forbidden love between her and Sasuke, during which after he returned her feelings, her father would tell her she couldn't see him. She would, obviously, disobey and they would run away and get hitched and live happily ever after. But now, it seemed her fantasies were being brought to life with a boy she just met.

_'Maybe I will forget about him after a good nights sleep.'_ she thought as she lied down, turning off her light. She looked towards the house next door, not knowing she was staring at the person she wanted to forget as he shifted in his sleep.

**To be continued...**

AN/ Well, I was gonna write it differently, originally, but after I wrote nineteen pages(New record until it ended with thirty-one pages!) I knew I couldn't just restart the chapter. Besides, the chapter I envisioned was shorter, but basically a less detailed version of this. So, I guess, it was a good thing I ended up typing more than I planned.

Jiraiya's last name is a mix between sannin and sennin, hence Saennin. And Shizune's name means nurse, if I got it right. My reasons for the subjects they teach are as follows:

Kurenai is a genjutsu master, so why not make her a computer graphics teacher? She still makes illusions, but only that they're digital.

Jiraiya--come on, that's pretty self explanitory. he's an author in the manga and so I made him an English teacher.

Asuma... well, I just felt like it. No real reason for him, that I can think of...

Anko, well, she's pretty self explanitory as well. What other class was she supposed to teach?

Gai, another self explanitory one. Besides, I can't see him wearing what most teachers wear; a button up shirt and slacks.

Hayate... another that I did merely on a whim. No real reason for him either.

Kakashi, well, he's cool and laid back. Tell me you wouldn't be psyched to go to school knowing that your last period was with a cool teacher? 'Sides, science is one of the tougher subjects and as Yamato said, he has a way with words. He'd be the best to teach science.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Damn it. Once again, it seems I've let my laziness take over. How long has it been since I've even updated? Feels like forever. Guess I'll just have to make it up to my readers by trying really hard on this chapter then, huh? I still have no way of typing these chapters on my computer so I'm using the site's document editor. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess._

_Edit: Now writing this on my iPod like all my other stories. Plus, I'd like to note that I had started the original draft of this chapter directly after the last, but then my computer broke and I had difficulty restarting this. I still like the original version better but, alas, that is lost to the world now._

_Disclaimer: …_

* * *

"Speech"

_'Thought'_

**_'To Be Revealed'_**

* * *

**Cursed**

* * *

It was almost mystical, the teen mused, the way the aroma always seemed to call to him, promising a quick escape from his hallow life. It would be easy to give in and indulge in the forbidden substance; it wasn't necessarily hard to find. On the contrary, it was everywhere. Wherever he looked, it was there; tempting him with its alluring fragrance. Yes, submitting to its call would be simple enough. All he had to do was ask his friends, or better yet his older brother. He always had some stashed away somewhere, having given into the temptation long ago.

Abruptly, a pair of charcoal eyes snapped open, glaring at the ceiling defiantly. He would not crumble under the pressure of the task thrust onto him. Unlike his brother, he would succeed in restoring their family's honor. He was the only person left who could ensure that the name Uchiha was respected, as it once was.

Sitting up, the teenage Uchiha glanced towards the light slithering under the door into his room, accompanied by the tempting fragrance. Figuring the presence of the unique smell could only mean one thing, the raven-haired teen sat up before turning and lifting himself off the bed, grabbing the towel spread across the foot of his bed before heading towards the door. The sweet smelling odor assaulted his nostrils as soon as it was open.

Unfortunately, an annoying sound also decided to assault his ears.

"Yo, Itachi, I'm hungry." the complaint came from the blond sitting, or rather sprawled on the far right of the couch directly of front of him. Hazy blue eyes turned towards the sound of the door opening, taking in the teen before him for a second. "Sasuke! Go make me something to eat!"

Sasuke simply stared at the man indifferently before glancing around the rest of the room, noting all the smoke in the air, taking in the other two occupants before finally coming to a stop on the raven-haired seemingly older version of himself. The man sitting on the couch looked very similar to him, both had Raven hair, charcoal eyes and pale skin; even their expressions were similar, not showing any particular emotion. However, where Sasuke's hair was shorter in the back than it was in the front, his brother's was considerably longer in the back, held in a low ponytail. Other than that, and a few unremarkable facial features, the family resemblance was uncanny.

Itachi merely tilted his head back, resting it on the back of the couch, before sighing. "Sasori, why did you bring Deidara? You know he's annoying when he's high."

To the right of Itachi was sat a thin red haired man, who smiled slightly before putting the rolled up lit paper to his lips, inhaling deeply. "He was in the car when you called me. He heard me talking and became determined to tag along." He said, smoke slipping out in between syllables. "Besides, we let Kisame join us all the time. He's not exactly Mister Beans, himself."

"Fuck you." came the somewhat loud reply from the dark skinned man sitting in one of the chairs at the table slightly to the left of the middle of the room. Out of the four people in the living room, Kisame was by far the largest. "Don't try to turn on me just 'cause I don't have a little bitch voice like you."

Sasori smirked as he passed the dwindling blunt to Itachi. "My voice is suave, not booming like yours. God forbid we ever had to rob a bank, your ass would get us caught before we even parked." Deidara's giggling made the red head turn.

"That's true, we'd be better off sending him on his own as a distraction." he said between giggles causing Kisame to glare at him.

"And who says you'd even be part of it?"

"Itachi." Sasuke called, cutting off, and ignoring, Deidara's response. When said man turned towards him, he continued. "Am I going to stop by and pick up something to eat from the deli or did you bring something?"

"I didn't bring anything from the restaurant but I can make you a BLT if you want." stated the older of the two siblings as he inhaled more of the drug in his hand. At Sasuke's nod, he exhaled the smoke slowly before getting up. "Alright, take a shower and it'll be ready when you get out.

Sasuke nodded again, heading towards the bathroom, ignoring Deidara's shouts as Kisame held him in a headlock while sitting on him.

A few minutes later found Sasuke standing in front of the bathroom mirror with a razor in his hands, shaving the excess hair off the side of his face, in order to keep presentable until his next haircut, while thinking about the conversation he'd had with Renji after the incident with the new kid. He was not worried about cutting his face, seeing as his body had become so accustomed to his daily routine.

* * *

_For the first time since he entered high school, Sasuke found he was thankful that the school gave the students fifteen minutes to get their things ready in the morning. That gave him enough time to change clothes and still be early to class._

_"You know why this happened, don't you?" asked Kisuke, an amused grin on his face. Sasuke glanced at the brown haired boy briefly, about to warn him to stay quiet if he was about to say something stupid but the other boy decided to tell him the answer. "You should've had a V8 like you always do. The one day you don't, some retard throws milk in your face." The way he was laughing he clearly thought he was funny._

_"Just go get my extra shirt from my locker, you idiot." Sasuke ordered as he entered the bathroom already removing his shirt, making a few girls nearby drool as they got an eyeful of his chest. There was an audible 'Aw' as he stepped into the bathroom. Once inside he set to work on cleaning both himself and his shirt._

_"Make way, bitches, make way." Was heard right outside, making Sasuke pause for a second, figuring he knew that voice. "Hey, give me back my hat!"_

'Hn. It's Renji.'_ He thought before continuing to scrub his shirt with water and some hand soap. A few squeals were heard as the door opened and a few of the girls got another view of him, quickly followed by some shouts as Renji kicked the door closed._

_"Fucking serves ya right, hoes!" yelled the amber haired teen, examining his hat for dents before fixing it on his head. "Here, Kisuke said to give this to you seeing as his girl got a hold of him." He said, tossing the clean shirt towards the raven-haired boy. "Honestly, I don't know why he's still with her; she has _no ass_. Plus she's a bitch." Sasuke remained quiet, not finding any point in responding._

_"What happened to you, anyways? Why do you need a new shirt?" Renji asked, having just gotten to school a few minutes ago. The young heir to the Uchiha fortune remained quiet as he soaked his shirt in warm water before hanging it on one of the doors to the stalls._

_"Some kid showed up and I guess he was trying to act tough or something, I don't really care." Sasuke stopped as he shook his head to try to remove most of the water in his hair before putting on his shirt. "He tried to start something with me and when I tried to brush him off, he threw Hanataro's milk at me."_

_"He threw milk on you?" Renji cut him off, on the verge of laughter. The way Sasuke merely stared at him was enough of an answer. "Damn it. How come I missed this?" the teen grumbled shortly before glancing at Sasuke. "You kicked his ass, right?"_

_"I knocked the wind out of him." was the plain answer, resulting in Renji rolling his eyes._

_"You should've kicked his ass." Repeated Renji, glancing towards Sasuke. The raven-haired teen decided to not respond, instead taking a moment to fix his hair as best he could. He may have been cut off from the Uchiha fortune, unknown to his peers, but that didn't mean he was going to go around looking like the common hoodlums who called themselves his friends._

_"If I'd have kicked his ass, I would have been suspended." Sasuke stated, glancing over his face once more to make sure he didn't have any more milk on himself before continuing, "I'm not going to have that on my permanent record just because some new kid tried to make a name for himself his first day." he finished, putting his shirt on. Renji rolled his eyes._

_"Who cares about that?" Renji questioned, reminding Sasuke that none of the kids he hung out with knew of his arrangement. "It's the principle, man! You want everyone thinking that they can do shit like that and get away with it?"_

_"Shut up, Renji." Kisuke spoke as he entered the bathroom, a dark red mark on his neck that hadn't been there when Sasuke had last seen him. "In a few days the new guy will know what everyone else does."_

_"And what would that be?" Sasuke questioned, curious as to what the hell the brown haired boy was going on about. Kisuke grinned sadistically._

_"That we're the top dogs around here for a reason. If he tries something like that again, we'll just jump him." He stated, making Sasuke's roll his eyes._

'Barbaric.'_ Sasuke thought, grabbing his wet shirt from the stall, about to head towards his locker to stash it before Renji spoke up._

_"That's so plain, though." The amber haired teen whined. "If we do that, we'll be done in a day. How often do we get a new kid? I'll tell you; never. I say we have some fun with this one."_

_"And do what?" Kisuke demanded. Though intrigued, he wasn't about to kidnap the new guy and put him on a one-way flight out of the country. And knowing Renji that would be his idea._

_"I don't know, but anything should be more entertaining than just kicking his ass." Renji argued, trying to think of idea._

_"I dunno, kicking someone's ass can be pretty fun." Kisuke replied, leaning against one of the bathroom stall doors. "Tell you what, Renji. If you can think of an idea for what to do to get back at the new guy before the end of the day, we'll go with that. Otherwise, I'm all for jumping the kid."_

_It was at that point that Sasuke had left; losing whatever interest he'd had in listening in on the conversation._

_Later, after learning that the raven-haired teen had been assigned to be a guide for the new kid, Renji had been struck by his plan._

_"Let's do a classic. We get cool with the guy, and once he thinks we're close, we turn on him." Renji offered during English. Sasuke barely paid him any attention, but Kisuke's curiosity was awoken._

_"Just what exactly are we going to do?" the brown haired teen asked. Renji shrugged._

_"I dunno. We have to get cool with him and see what kind of dirt we can get on him, first. Depending on what we find, we can do a lot of shit." he grinned, eyes shifting towards the raven-haired boy sitting quietly. "And Sasuke has the perfect opportunity to start this off."_

_"No."_

_"Come on, Sasuke." Renji whined. "All you have to do is introduce us to him, since you're his tour guide and shit, and we'll take care of the rest."_

_"And what reason would I have for being friendly with him after the stunt he pulled?" Sasuke poked a hole in Renji's plan._

_"True." Kisuke agreed. "Wouldn't this kid realize something's up?" The way Renji crumpled in his chair meant he hadn't thought of that._

_"Maybe..." Renji trailed off as he tried to formulate a valid reason. "Maybe we can just say that once we actually looked back it was funny for someone to pull a stunt like that... and... it took balls and we like that?"_

_Kisuke smirked. "You like people with balls?" he questioned, getting a quick nod from the amber haired boy before he realized what he'd been asked. "Gay."_

_"Shut up, you faggot!" he exclaimed, gaining the attention of the entire class, while Kisuke sniggered in the corner._

_"If you're going to start, Renji, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." the teacher stated, arms crossed, clearly not in the mood for the boy's antics._

_"No thanks, Sensei, I'm good." Renji replied as he sat back down in his chair, ignoring the loud sigh the instructor made. As soon as the man resumed his lecture, Renji turned towards Kisuke, who had a smug smirk on his face._

_"So besides how gay it sounds, it's an alright idea." Kisuke spoke before Renji could. "So what do you want to do, Sasuke?" the brown haired teen intoned. "You were the one this kid messed with."_

_"I really could not care less."_

_"Hey; he didn't say no." Renji stated, sporting a smirk that Kisuke mirrored._

_"Alright then, Renji. Seeing as it's your plan and all, next time we see him it's up to you to get him to hang with us." Kisuke ordered._

_"A'ight, bet," was Renji's simple response._

* * *

Despite Renji's pathetic attempts to get the blonde to hang out with them the last few days, Sasuke doubted anyone had the slightest clue about the 'plan' the boy had devised. People often ignored the amber-haired teen, himself included. He was just too simpleminded to take seriously.

"Your roll is on the table." Itachi mentioned as Sasuke walked out of the bathroom. "You got enough money for the bus or do you need some change?"

"I'm good." Sasuke replied, turning down his elder brother's offer. Since they had been cut off from their parent's fortune, money had been tight and Sasuke never liked to take money from his brother even when he did need it. A few minutes later Sasuke stood in front of the front door, dressed. "I'm off, then, Itachi."

* * *

_"Come, Naruto, we're leaving." the blond boy in question followed the order, walking as best he could with the stinging on his back. They walked towards the front door silently, trying to make as little noise as possible so as to not alert the last person in the house._

_That notion proved to be pointless when the door flung open just as soon as they reached it, revealing the man from whom they were trying to escape._

_"Where are you going, Tsubaki?" Mizuki spoke, eyeing his wife menacingly before his gaze shifted towards the child behind her. "You are supposed to be resting, boy."_

_"I'm taking Naruto away!" Tsubaki declared, staring at her husband defiantly even though she was trembling with fear. She had never been scared of Mizuki, but the man standing before her now was not the man she married; he was not the man she fell in love with for his kind heart._

_"Didn't you just hear me; he's supposed to be resting." he repeated, never taking his eyes off the frightened young boy. "Do you want them to punish you like they did Yagura-kun?"_

_The effect of the threats was immediate as Naruto began inching back towards the stairs, terrified of being tortured the same way he had seen them do to another ritual container. Jinchūriki they called them._

_Before he reached the stairs, however, his mother grabbed his arm. The blond's gaze snapped from his father to his mother. "Don't, Naruto." She spoke, shaking her head before turning to glare at her husband. "Get out of the way, you bastard. We're leaving."_

_The silver-haired man placed his hand on his face before his shoulders started shaking. He glanced between his fingers at the two confused people in front of him before letting his hand fall to reveal his maniac grin._

_"No. I don't think so, Tsubaki." Mizuki stated firmly, stepping in and closing the door behind him. "You see, Naruto is too important to the cult now." his gaze settled on Naruto's stomach. "But if you really wish to leave, I won't stop you."_

_Tsubaki unconsciously tightened her grip on Naruto's forearm. "I'm not leaving Naruto with someone like you." she spat, glaring into the crazed eyes of the thing that stood before her. She refused to call it by the name of the man she fell in love with, feeling it would be a disgrace to his image. To her memories of him._

_"Someone like me?" Mizuki inquired, tilting his head to the side curiously. The crazed look in his eyes, however, made the action appear intimidating. "Why, Tsubaki, whatever could you mean?" he taunted as he advanced on the two._

* * *

"Yo, Naruto, you awake?" Yamato yawned, standing outside the teen's room. A few second later the blond boy opened the door, revealing that he was fully dressed. "Good. Get something to eat while I get ready and I'll drop you off on my way to work."

Naruto nodded, following the man to the kitchen. Once there, Yamato headed into his room while Naruto moved to heat up some Pop Tarts, which the older man had bought for the blond teen two days prior on their trip to the supermarket. A necessity since the two single men didn't have much food at home, living off of take-out and such.

"You know if you took the bus you wouldn't have to wait in the main office at your school for half an hour." Yamato commented as he changed. Since Naruto's school was in the opposite direction from the J.D.C., he had to drop the boy off earlier than he should just to make it to work on time. Luckily, thanks to Kakashi and the rest of the faculty, he was allowed to wait inside rather than outside since it was getting cold.

"True as that may be, it would also mean I'd have to ride with my fellow classmates." Naruto responded, catching the heated pastries as they jumped out of the toaster. "Plus Haruno would wonder if I lived close by." he added as an afterthought. "Thus far we've managed to avoid any encounters. I'd rather keep it that way."

_'He really doesn't fancy the chick, huh?'_ Yamato mused as he walked out of his room. He had seen when Naruto had caught the Pop Tarts and he couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. He wasn't even facing the toaster when he caught them.

He didn't know how the boy did it, but he seemed to have a knack for knowing random things. He knew when the lights on a semaphore were going to change; he was like a human clock, knowing what time it was no matter when. He never missed when he threw something into the trashcan. To put it bluntly, the boy was an enigma.

Naruto wasn't even that hard to be around, from a social standpoint. He didn't sit there and stare blankly at him or Kakashi. He talked to them; he asked them random questions about whatever they were watching. He paid attention to the lengthiest of their explanations. It was just the boy's personality, or lack thereof, that made it awkward to be around him sometimes. He really didn't display any emotion whatsoever. His voice was a constant monotone, and his eyes made it difficult to maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds.

"Let's go, then." Yamato ordered as he grabbed the keys to his car, which had been repaired, and headed towards the entrance. "It's finally Friday. The faster we get through the day, the faster we can relax for the weekend, no?"

"I suppose." Naruto responded blankly, making Yamato sigh as he unlocked his Nissan Altima.

"Have you decided whether or not you're going to go to any of the Halloween parties you were invited to?" Yamato asked as he started up the car, making sure all his mirrors were okay before shifting the car in gear and easing them out of their parking spot.

"I don't think I'll go to any of them." Naruto answered, thinking of the three parties he'd been invited to. Inuzuka Kiba had invited him to a party held at his house, which Naruto assumed the rest of the group that the boy hung out with would attend. Then there was the party that one of the guys from Sasuke and Neji's group had invited him to. He was still rather suspicious of them, but at the same time he figured that Neji wasn't one to associate himself with anyone who went out of their way for petty revenge. There was also a party he had been invited to by a random shy girl named Yuzu, who had blushed and stammered as she talked to him.

He knew he wasn't going to the party the popular kids had invited him to, for he might gain popularity just from being there. He also figured he would rather not go to the Inuzuka's party, because he would rather not spend more time acting like an idiot than he had to, which he would have to do if he went to that party. The last party wasn't much concern, since he didn't know who the girl was and could probably just say he had a headache and couldn't make it if he ever saw the light brown-haired girl again.

"So you decided to stay for the party we're hosting?" Yamato teased, smiling lightly. He and Kakashi had drawn the straws for hosting the Halloween party this year, and even though they had hoped Naruto would go to one of the parties he'd been invited to, because their party was probably going to have more than a few mature themes, but if he was going to stay they'd have to figure out if he was mature enough to handle their party activities, or if they had to tone it down a notch.

"I don't appear to have much of a choice in the matter, do I?" Naruto stated, moving a few strands of hair out of his face. Yamato shrugged.

"Well if you change your mind, I can drive you wherever you need to go." he offered as he pulled over in front of the blond's school. "I won't be able to pick you up later so you'll have to go home with Kakashi." he instructed, receiving a nod from the teen, before driving off.

Naruto fixed his backpack on his shoulder before turning to walk towards the school, preparing himself for another day of dodging confrontations, playing the fool who needed extra help when he had an eidetic memory, and pretending he cared about the day-by-day lives of the kids who persisted in including him in their activities despite his best efforts to tell them otherwise.

* * *

"See you guys later!" Sakura shouted as she got into her mother's car. She'd gotten out of work early and decided to pick her daughter up from school. The young rosette barely even heard their responses before her mother drove off.

"So how was your day today, honey?" her mother inquired.

"Same ol', same ol'." Sakura shrugged, twirling a strand of her silken pink hair absentmindedly as she thought of how ever since the blond new kid's arrival a few days ago it had been all but the same old events.

For one, Inaho seemed to have made it his life mission to get back at the shade wearing teen for the gym fiasco. Whether that be by trying to intimidate him, or try to get a rise out of him in order to instigate a fight, it didn't matter. Moreover, the casual way in which the blond seemed to either ignore him, or, like most recently, avoid him, only served to fuel the older boy's rage. The way things were going it seemed as if a physical confrontation would occur soon. Luckily, Inaho had been suspended today; a result of his latest attempt to get back at the new guy by throwing a paint filled water balloon, which the blond coincidentally dodged by picking up a nickel, causing the projectile to hit a security guard. Needless to say, he was immediately taken to the principal's office and given three days suspension.

"Are you sure?" Sakura's mother pressed. "A boy didn't ask you to Kiba's party?" she tried, making the rosette immediately turn towards her mother, a blush of embarrassment tinting her cheeks.

"Mom!"

"Well I'm just wondering when you're going to go out on a real date, honey?" The elder Haruno woman offered, glancing at her daughter out of the corner of her eye. "Unless you consider your outings with all your friends dates?"

"What—No!" Sakura shouted, mortified at the thought of going out with any of her guy friends. "Mom, can we just... drop this discussion? It's embarrassing talking about this with you." Not to mention it was reminding her that she had yet to be asked out on a real date—(Lee didn't count.)—and, since there was someone she liked, it also reminded her that she had, thus far, been unsuccessful in gaining Sasuke's love, or at least attention. _'He probably doesn't even remember my name.'_ Sakura thought dejectedly.

"Okay, fine." Sakura's mother conceded, much to the younger girl's relief. "How are things going with Ino; have you two patched things up yet?"

"No, Mom. We haven't 'patched things up'." Sakura muttered, suddenly put off from conversing with her mother who still believed that her daughter and her former best friend would mend their friendship.

"It's been around three years; I would have thought you two would have settled your differences." her mother commented only to be given the cold shoulder by Sakura.

As much as Sakura hated being disrespectful towards her mother, she was done trying to explain to the woman that she would not be the one to approach the blonde. Then again, her mother hadn't been there to hear the things the blonde had said, or the way in which she had said them.

Needless to say, the rest of the drive home was spent in an awkward silence.

* * *

"Sakura, the phone!"

"I don't have it!" the rosette replied, returning to adding the finishing touches on her costume, leaving her mother to search for the ringing phone. She figured the older woman had found it when she heard the ringing stop but seeing as they weren't calling her, for if they were her mother would have brought her the phone, she returned her focus to her costume.

After figuring that not only did she not have the figure to pull off being principal Tsunade (though she couldn't help but note Hinata did) but that it was a hard costume to put together she gave up on the idea. Instead, she had chosen to dress up as an old Halloween classic; a rather cute and, mostly, innocent witch costume with a pair of striped thigh high socks to keep her legs warm since the costume's skirt only reached to just above her knees.

"There, that should do it." She muttered to herself as she gave herself one final once over, emerald orbs taking in her appearance in the mirror. Witch hat perfectly angled for maximum cuteness; check. Arm sleeves and socks for warmth from the crisp October air? Check. Cotton workout shorts under her skirt to prevent any embarrassing mishaps? Check!

Now all she had to do was wait for Chouji, since his father had agreed to pick her up since they lived the closest to her.

"Are you sure you can't find anyone else?" Sakura heard her mother's voice from downstairs as she sat down on the edge of her bed to watch TV, disturbing her kitten who jumped down and stretched before proceeding to groom itself. "No, don't worry; I'm sure Sakura can take care of her."

_'Wait—what?'_ Sakura bolted up from her bed and ran towards the stairs.

"Yeah! So we'll see you two over there? Okay, bye. Sakura—oh, you're right here."

"What did you just volunteer me for?" the rosette all but demanded, huffing from the exertion of running, and almost falling, down the stairs.

"Mrs. Kimura said that their babysitter can't make it tonight and, knowing how your father's boss is about the workers attending these holiday parties, I told her you'd watch her daughter." the elder woman responded, causing Sakura to raise an eyebrow cautiously.

"For Christmas?" she tried, getting the feeling she already knew the answer even before her mother shook her head. "New Year's?"

"Tonight, honey." her mother divulged what she had already Figured out.

"But, but, but—Mo-o-om!"

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I know you want to go to your friend's party but you have to stay home tonight."

"Why doesn't Mr. Kimura watch her?" Sakura inquired. "He doesn't even _like_ going to those parties!"

Her mother gave her a light smile before stepping towards her. "Honey, let me give you a tip about men. A good man will do something he hates if it makes his woman happy." she spoke softly before tucking a stray hair behind her daughter's ear. "That's why Masao goes to his wife's work parties, even though he doesn't like social gatherings. So do this for them and I promise that when you get married and have children I'll watch them whenever you want to go do something your future husband hates."

Sakura didn't know whether she should laugh at her mother's words, be embarrassed or frustrated. In the end the teen merely sighed before nodding, knowing that when her parents asked her to do something she could either obey, and stay in her parents good graces, or be punished and forced to comply, anyways.

With a final shoulder squeeze to convey her gratitude, along with a kiss to the forehead, her mother left to finish preparing for her father's work 'stress-relief' party, leaving Sakura to wonder how one of her favorite nights of the year had been completely ruin by a phone call.

* * *

"Hey, Chouji, where's Sakura?" Tenten asked the newly arrived boy standing at the food table. The brunet turned towards the older girl and swallowed before speaking.

"She said something about having to babysit some kid and that she couldn't come so to not go pick her up." Chouji explained as he added more food to his plate, making sure to keep his gaze from his senior.

Although Tenten might not have the most prominent figure, her Halloween costume did a marvelous job of accentuating her curves that usually went unnoticed by the boys of the group. To put it bluntly, it was awkward for Chouji to look at a girl who so often insisted she was just 'one of the guys' when she was wearing shorts that just barely covered her ass and straps that squeezed her breasts enough to make them noticeable.

"Oh, wow. She must've been mad, huh?" Tenten said as she crossed her arms and leaned on one leg. Chouji blushed as he saw how the simple action of crossing her arms pressed the older girl's breasts closer together than they had already been out of the corner of his eye.

"She sounded more disappointed that she couldn't come than mad."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Tenten shrugged. "Guess there's nothing we can do though. I'll catch you later Chouji, gotta go. I promised Neji I'd keep an eye on Hinata tonight." she offered as she began to walk towards Kiba's house before she shivered. "Plus it's freezing out here."

Chouji let out a breath he had been unconsciously holding; a habit he had developed when he became self-conscious around attractive girls to appear at least slightly thinner. He had never felt the need to do it around Tenten before though. Then again, she had never worn such a revealing Laura Croft costume before.

* * *

He didn't know which was more disturbing, seeing his teachers wearing such ridiculous costumes, or the juvenile way in which they were acting. When he had assured Yamato that he was mature enough to handle some of the things they were going to do at the party, he had imagined they might have a few sex related themes.

What he had not counted on was that the women would be wearing—or rather not wearing enough clothes. Or the games the adults would be playing (Musical lap dances, a contest for which woman had the smuttiest costume, strip red light, green light.). In addition, while the number of normal games outnumbered the ones that were rated-X, Naruto decided, when he saw the school principal, dressed as a sexy succubus, arrive that he would rather spend the rest of the night outside.

Thus, he found himself in the backyard that his parole officer shared with his neighbors, a place he had tried to avoid until now, with two boys younger than himself.

One was a boy with spiky, dark brown hair, with a long blue scarf wrapped around his neck that didn't match his Detective costume, who had arrived with Sarutobi-sensei and the other was a lighter brunet whose hair was brushed down, almost covering his glasses, dressed similarly to his companion, with a constantly running nose that refused to stop no matter how often he wiped the snot away. Naruto did not know the person he had arrived with.

The two preteen boys were playing with Hatake's dogs, which were apparently rather friendly unless told to be aggressive. Though Naruto knew, from the few times he had been around the canines during his time at the J.D.C., that they had an unnatural fear of him. Well, him and Gaara. But then again, he wasn't exactly natural, and Gaara had been admitted into the mental hospital under similar circumstances to his own, though whether or not the boy had gone through a sealing ritual the blond couldn't say.

Sitting on the porch, Naruto stared down at his hands blankly, noting from the red tint that his eyes had changed. Not that it mattered since he was wearing the shades Yamato had given him but that merely added to the distortion of his vision, making the red tint a darker shade.

"Hey, Blondie, why are you out here? This is a crime scene!" a high pitched voice called from the opposite side of the yard drawing Naruto's attention to the two boys. They were playing some game (Naruto didn't really know what since he hadn't really been paying attention to them) with the dogs and it seemed they had finally noticed him sitting on the steps.

"Don't mind me; I'm just trying to get away from the adults for a bit. They're acting weird." Naruto spoke, adopting a bit of his cheerful persona, just enough to convince the kids that they didn't need to worry about him but not too much so as to encourage them to seek to play with him. He thought it had worked until the spiky haired one spoke up again.

"Well if you want to stay out here you'll need to cooperate." he said, making the blond raise an eyebrow externally while internally he was sighing. "I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru, Hokage, and this is my partner, Kato Udon. We're investigating how this viscous creature," he pointed at the large bulldog that was lying on its back as it awaited more belly rubs, "escaped from its high security cage. Someone must've released it. Tell me, citizen, did you happen to see anyone around here?"

At the word, 'Hokage' Naruto knew what the two kids were playing. They were playing Detective and the short one, Konohamaru, was playing the role of the chief detective of Konoha District, the Hokage.

Deciding that it would be better to humor them so that they would return to their own devices. Make a short term sacrifice to gain long-term peace and quiet.

"Nope. I was helping put up decorations for the Halloween party. Didn't even know something had escaped." Naruto offered with a warm smile. Konohamaru narrowed his eyes at him.

"Your story seems too convenient. You just happened to be occupied all day, and you claim not to have heard anything yet you were near the scene of the crime?"

"It does sound awfully suspicious." Udon added before joining Konohamaru in staring at the blond accusingly.

"If you ask me, your companion is the one acting suspicious." Naruto spoke to Udon, making the younger boy raise an eyebrow. "Seems to me like he's trying to pin this on the first person he sees. Almost as if he's trying to cover his tracks."

It was evident in the way the spectacled boy turned to look at his companion that Naruto's words had served their purpose of distracting them into forgetting about the blond and turning their attention on each other.

"You know, I don't know where you were at the time of the crime." Udon accused, narrowing his eyes. Konohamaru glared at his friend.

"What are you talking about? I was at my house putting on my costume!" he shouted making Udon scoff.

"A likely story."

"Udon, you were at my house before you left to go change!"

"Exactly, there were, like, thirty minutes where you could've come here, released the beast and returned home."

"What are you; stupid? It takes twenty minutes to drive here from where we live! How could I come here and go back in half an hour?"

The sound of a door swinging open towards the left drew the attention of everyone in the yard. Turning they saw an angry pink haired girl in a witch costume walk out of the house parallel to theirs. She looked around for a bit until her jade eyes settled on the two bickering preteens.

"Who the heck are you two and why are you yelling in my backyard!" Sakura demanded, already annoyed at having to stay home during Halloween but now these dumbass kids were shouting so loud she couldn't even watch TV.

"Sakura-nee, don't bother." a second feminine voice was heard before a smaller orange haired girl walked out to stand beside the older girl. "That's Konohamaru and Udon, they're the school pranksters. They aren't even scared of being punished at school so they aren't going to be intimidated by you."

"Moegi-chan!" Konohamaru and Udon shouted in unison causing said girl to scowl.

"Plus they don't know how to be quiet to save their lives." Moegi added under her breath, so low even Sakura barely heard her. "What are you two doing here, anyways?"

"I came with my uncle. He's inside of that building, partying with his friends." Konohamaru explained, pointing towards the building and, indadvertedly, towards the teenage blond trying to remain unnoticed behind the wooden beam supporting the small patio roof.

_'N-No way. Don't tell me that's—I-It can't be...'_ "Naruto?" Sakura called unsurely, trying to ascertain whether or not it was the new student who trouble seemed to gravitate to, no matter how hard he seemed to try to avoid it.

Naruto, figuring he'd been caught, sat forward on the steps he was occupying with a light smile on his face. "Hey, Sakura, I didn't know you lived here." he said calmly as he fixed his sleeves to make sure none of his scars were visible.

"Yeah, but what are you doing here? I thought you got invited to, like, seven parties?" Sakura asked, wondering why Naruto was in her backyard with two middle-schoolers.

"It was only three and I'm on punishment so I couldn't go but I got dragged here just to make sure I didn't sneak out." Naruto chuckled. "What about you? I thought you were going to Kiba's party?"

"I was but I got stuck babysitting last minute." Sakura responded, sighing.

"Ah."

"Yeah." An awkward moment of silence passed during which Sakura merely stood rubbing her arm.

"Are you two going through a rough patch in your relationship or something?" Konohamaru asked causing two separate reactions. A raised blond eyebrow accompanied by sheepish laughter and an indignant shriek.

"W-Who would—W-Why—What kind of—"

"What makes you think that, kid?" Naruto asked, amused by Sakura's reaction.

Konohamaru shrugged. "Usually when my uncle breaks up with a girl or something it's really awkward being around them afterwards."

"Awkward? Why would it be awkward? It's not awkward." Sakura stammered, her blush intensifying from the stupidity of the conversation.

"She and I just go to the same school, kid, there's nothing going on between us." Naruto clarified, though it was clear from the fashion in which Konohamaru smiled that he didn't believe the blond.

"Oh. I see. Hasn't happened yet, huh?" Konohamaru teased, having seen the way Sakura had looked down quickly when Naruto had mention they were nothing but schoolmates, before turning to his companion. "Let's go before we see this guy embarrass himself." he said, walking back to the corner where the dogs were held. "Moegi-chan, come on!"

The shout shook the orange haired girl out of her thoughts, making her blush as she hoped the older boy hadn't noticed she had been staring dreamily at him. Thus, even though she tended to avoid playing with Konohamaru and Udon when they played detective, since they tended to annoy everyone with their 'interrogations,' she decided to use it as an excuse to get away from the hot blond's knee melting smile.

Suddenly Sakura found herself alone with Naruto; less than six feet separated her from the young man who despite her best efforts seemed to occupy her thoughts when she let her mind wander and caused her hands to grow clammy when he flashed a smile her way while he fooled around with Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji at lunch. The boy who seemed to be becoming popular in a manner different from Neji and Sasuke, who were popular because of their looks and indifferent personality that made every girl fantasize about what it would be like to be the one who they let into their lives.

Naruto, however, was winning people over and, from what she was beginning to hear more and more in the girls' bath and locker rooms, stealing hearts with his warm personality and endless smiles.

"So... A witch, huh?" Naruto commented, grinning, though he was beginning to see what Konohamaru meant by it being awkward, though he wasn't sure why it felt that way. Usually he thrived off of peace and quiet—not having to converse needlessly with someone he barely knew—but the pink haired girl had been staring at him blankly for about a minute or so now and it was starting to affect him.

It took Sakura's mind a moment to register what she had been asked before she answered. "Um... Yeah. I was going to dress up as Principal Tsunade but I found this costume in my closet and decided to wear it, for old time's sake." she replied, omitting her mental debate about whether or not a certain person who might attend the party would like how the two year old costume hugged her nonexistent figure.

At the rosette's mention of their school principal Naruto was forced to shift his train of thought to something—anything—else so as to not think about the woman drinking inside wearing a skintight latex suit that failed to cover enough skin to make him comfortable.

"Oh. It looks... nice." Naruto said, having learned that the jade eyed girl had a tendency to turn hostile to anything he said unless he complemented her, which would instead make her look away in an attempt to conceal a blush while mumbling about how she didn't care about his opinion. Much like right now.

"W-What makes you think I care what you th-think?" Sakura stammered, turning her head in the direction of the kids playing, hoping that between her hat and hair the blond wouldn't be able to notice how her face suddenly flushed due to the heat. "What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Why aren't you dressed up?" Sakura clarified. Naruto didn't appear to be wearing a costume, just his usual getup of a long sleeved button up shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms and pants. She briefly wondered if he considered dressing up silly, or if he did what some of the popular guys did; dress regularly except with something extra like a hat or jacket and say they were someone from TV or a movie.

"Well I didn't really get a chance to change before I got dragged here. I thought I was gonna stay home." the blond answered, grinning.

"Oh."

"Yeah." There it was again, a thick silence that was so awkward even he felt uncomfortable. He shifted his gaze towards where the kids were playing with Hatake's dog again, which seemed to have taken a liking to Moegi as it had her pinned down, licking her face making her laugh as the two boys tried to pry it off of her.

The sound of a door opening, this time behind him, drew his attention as well as Sakura's.

"Yo, Naruto, turns out the food we made sucks so I'm going to run out to get some pizzas. You wanna come with or you want me to get you anything?" Yamato asked from the doorway, his costume unrecognizable by now after having removed most of the props due to heat inside but Naruto vaguely remembered him saying he was a character from a game.

"Hello, Yamato-san." Sakura greeted, making her presence known. The older man leaned out of his doorway, his eyebrow raised in confusion until he saw her.

"Hey, Sakura. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out with your friends?"

"I had to babysit last minute." Sakura replied, tilting her head towards the children playing allowing the man to notice that there was an extra head in the mass of fur and limbs.

"Ah. Well, I'll buy an extra pizza for you guys back here."

"Oh, that's okay, my mom told me to make something if we got hungry."

"Don't worry about it. The way I see it you're at my party so the least I can do is get you two something to eat." Yamato brushed her off. He then turned his attention to the blond. "So you need anything?"

"Actually..." Naruto stood and motioned for Yamato to step inside. "Excuse us, real quick." he directed at Sakura before he and Yamato disappeared inside. "You know how you told me to let you know if I changed my mind and wanted to go to any of the parties I was invited to?"

"Yeah. Why?" Yamato questioned before sighing. "Don't tell me you want to avoid the girl that badly?"

"Somewhat. I was going to propose that while you go pick up the pizzas, you take her to the party at Inuzuka Kiba's house. Then when you return you bring her back. Everyone's content."

"And what about the girl?"

"She's playing with Sarutobi's nephew and his friend. And I'll stay out back to keep an eye on her."

Yamato sighed, rubbing his neck. "Why are you doing this?"

"Honestly? It's uncomfortable being around her alone. At school at least everyone is there to act as a buffer between us, but right now it's just us and it's... awkward."

"Why is it awkward?"

"That's the thing; I don't know why, it just is." Naruto answered, leaning against the door to Yamato's room. "So can you do it?"

"Sure, why not." Yamato relented. "I've got to get five pies so that should give her around an hour to mingle." he turned to walk towards the front of the house. "Tell her I'll be waiting out front in my car but I'll only wait for five minutes."

Naruto stepped outside only to find that he was alone, only the dogs remained, flinching when he glanced towards them. Looking around he noticed that the door to Sakura's house was left open, meaning that, more than likely, they were in there. He was almost tempted to leave them be, but seeing as he had just coerced Yamato into agreeing to take the pink haired teen to a party, he figured he might as well ask if she wanted to go.

Walking over to the entrance, he knocked on the open door. A few seconds later Sakura appeared.

"Yeah?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Oh. Moegi scratched herself on a wood-chip so we just came to disinfect and bandage it real quick." Sakura explained, just before the kids ran past her on their way outside. "Why? Were you lonely?" she teased with a small smile.

"No, actually... Um..." Naruto cleared his throat. "I talked to Yamato and he said that, if you want, he could drop you off at Kiba's for a while while he goes for the pizzas."

"What?" Sakura asked, a mix between surprise and confusion. "Why would he...?"

"He owes me for talking me into that stunt with the armored car." Naruto couldn't help but note that that was probably the first time he hadn't lied to the rosette since he met her.

"That was his idea?" Naruto nodded. "How do you know him anyways?"

"It's a long and... Complicated story..." The blond said, chuckling. "Anyways, Yamato said that if you want a ride he'd be waiting for you out front." he turned to return to his porch.

"But what about Moegi?" Sakura inquired, glancing at the orange haired girl laughing at Konohamaru, who was being chased by Pakkun.

"I don't think she'll mind too much. She seems to be having fun with those two." Naruto pointed out, leaning against the beam to Sakura's back porch.

"I-I still don't know, my parents would kill me if they found out." Sakura stammered out until she noticed the way Naruto was grinning at her. Once again she was forced to look away to hide her blush.

"Don't worry about it; you're only going to be gone for an hour at most." Naruto reassured her. Sakura was silent for a moment before she spoke again.

"Is there a reason you're doing this?" She asked, keeping her gaze away from him.

Besides being honestly curious, she wanted to know his motives for doing something so nice when all they ever did at school was argue. Albeit it was his constant playfulness that kept her on edge all the time. Still they weren't as close as him and Lee or even him and Kiba.

"I just figured that there's no point in both of us being stuck here and since you're all dressed up..." Naruto trailed off. "The decision's yours, I'm just giving you the option." he added before heading back towards the other side of the yard. "But you better hurry; Yamato said he'd only wait five minutes so you have about two minutes left if you want to go."

By the time Naruto reached his seat on the porch Sakura was already shoving her shoes on and looking for her keys to lock up.

"I'll be back in a bit, Moegi; I'm going with Yamato-san to pick up the pizzas." Sakura exclaimed as she locked the back door.

"Okay." Moegi's voice came from behind the bushes near the dog pen, revealing her position to Udon who was searching for his friends.

"Found you, Moegi-chan!"

"Ugh! Thanks a lot Sakura-nee!"

"Sorry." Sakura replied as she walked up to Naruto, rubbing her arm nervously. Though she was unsure because of his shades, something everyone had acknowledged that he never took off, she could almost feel his gaze on her. "Thanks for this, Naruto. I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, Sakura." Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Just hurry up before Yamato leaves without you."

Sakura nodded her head, about to leave when she stopped. Naruto stared at her with a raised eyebrow as she walked around the stairs until she stood directly in front of him. The next thing he knew two slender arms were wrapped around him, a mass of pink hair in his face. As fast as it happened it was gone, leaving no evidence that it had even transpired besides the faint scent of strawberries left in his nostrils.

"Thank you." was all Sakura said before she walked down the small space between their buildings, leaving a stunned blond behind.

"I was just about to leave." Yamato stated when he saw Sakura walk up to his car. He noticed how red her face was and quirked an eyebrow. "You okay? If you're feeling sick maybe you shouldn't—"

"N-No, I'm fine." Sakura cut him off, climbing into the car. Yamato continued to stare at her oddly.

"You sure? 'cause your face is really red."

"R-Red? Why would my face be red? I'm not blushing or anything." Sakura replied, missing the grin that grew on the older man's face. Luckily for her he chose not to say anything more on the matter.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride, Yamato-san." Sakura said as she stepped out of the car. "How long do you think..."

"I have to get six pizzas so it should take around an hour." Yamato answered as he brought out his phone to look at the time. "I should be here at around eight-thirty. So be on the lookout for a car horn at around that time, alright?"

Sakura merely nodded before closing the car door and walking up to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. A few seconds later the door was flung open revealing Kiba in his werewolf costume.

"Who the hell is—Sakura? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you, too." Sakura replied dryly before motioning at the doorway. "Are you going to let me in?"

"I thought Chouji said you got stuck babysitting?" Kiba asked as he closed the door.

"Yeah... Where's Tenten?"

"She's in the living-room."

Nodding, Sakura walked over to Kiba's living-room where she easily spotted Tenten sitting next to Hinata, who was dressed up as a cute white puppy, complete with a brown circle around her left eye, her nose colored black and whiskers on her cheeks that reminded Sakura too much of a blond haired teen at the moment.

"Tenten!" Sakura called, drawing the older girl's attention.

"Sakur—Gah!"

"I need to talk to you, privately." Sakura muttered as she dragged the brunette away. "Be right back, Hinata!" she shouted over her shoulder at the confused Hyuuga.

After a while of searching Sakura shoved Tenten in the first empty room she found before stepping inside and locking the door.

"Whoa, Sakura, I didn't know you felt that way." Tenten teased as she sat down on the edge of Kiba's bed. Usually Sakura would have an embarrassed blush on her face but at the moment it seemed that she hadn't even heard her. "Sakura, what's going on?"

"You'll never guess who I met today, in my backyard of all places." Sakura started, waiting for Tenten to cave and ask who before continuing. "Naruto."

"Naruto?"

"Naruto," Sakura repeated, "the fucking new guy."

"What was he doing in your backyard?" Tenten questioned, confusion painted on her face.

"He said something about being grounded and forced to attend my neighbor's party so he wouldn't sneak out—Oh! My neighbor, Yamato, was the guard from the J.D.C. that dropped him off on the first day of school."

"Wait; so he was really in the Detention Center?"

"No. Apparently my neighbor persuaded him into pulling off that stunt." Sakura elaborated before shaking her head. "But we're straying off topic."

"What is the topic again?" Tenten asked, confused, causing Sakura to sigh.

"I was at home, watching TV with Moegi—"

"The girl you had to babysit?"

"Yes. So we were watching TV; or rather trying to since it sounded like some kids were yelling in my backyard, so I went to take a look. Turns out they were some kids Moegi knew from school, that came with their parents or something to my neighbor's party, too."

"So when did Naruto show up?"

"I was getting to that." Sakura reprimanded the older girl lightly making her laugh sheepishly. "Naruto was sitting on my neighbor's porch and he practically lit up when he noticed me. We talked for a bit before Yamato-san came out and invited us for some pizza that he was just about to go pick up.

"Naruto asked to speak with him privately and when they came back he offered to watch Moegi for a bit if I wanted to come here for a short time while Yamato-san picks up the pizzas, and return when the pizzas are done. That's why I'm here."

Even after Sakura's tale, Tenten was still confused as to why the jade-eyed girl was so... flustered. "Is that it?"

"What do you mean, 'is that it?'" Sakura asked, staring at her friend incredulously.

"I don't see why you're so worked up." Tenten began, turning to face the rosette. "From what you've told me, all that happened was that you learned more about him in a few minutes than we have all week at school and he was nice enough to let you come here for a bit."

"That's just it. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why he would offer to do something like this." Sakura responded, exasperated. "We aren't even that close for him to do something this nice. So why would he do it? What could he possibly gain?"

Tenten couldn't help but roll her eyes. As far as she could remember, Sakura had always been extremely wary of people's motives for being nice. She figured it was because of how her friendship with Ino had turned out.

"Sakura, I don't know if you've noticed but Naruto seems like a really cool guy." Tenten stated calmly. "He doesn't seem like the type to hold favors over someone if that's what you're implying."

As much as she hated it, Sakura knew Tenten was speaking the truth. She knew that she was the one who instigated all of the arguments that occurred between herself and the blond. In her defense, it wasn't really her fault. Somehow, he just seemed to know exactly how to push her buttons, whether it was intentional or not, and, for some reason unknown to her, she had a shorter fuse when around him.

When a minute passed without receiving a response, Tenten stood up to walk to the door. "Now," She began, loud enough to gain the rosette's attention, "unless something else happened between you two, like, say, a kiss or he was flirting with you..." she was about to open the door until she noticed how red the younger teen's face got. "_Did_ anything else happen?"

"N-Not really." Sakura answered, crossing her arms and turning her face away, though the fact that her cheeks turned red and the tips of her ears burned were clear giveaways that she wasn't being entirely truthful.

"What did you do?" Tenten demanded as she plopped herself back on the bed, grabbing ahold of the blushing teen's forearms and shaking her when she refused to talk. "Tell me!"

"Really, nothing happened." Sakura maintained, speaking in between shakes. Tenten released her and when she pulled back she muttered. "I mean, it's not like a hug and a compliment mean anything."

"He hugged you?" Tenten uttered, shocked that the boy who wouldn't even allow Miss popular, Yamanaka Ino, touch his arm had hugged her.

"Um... Not so much as I hugged him, but only as a way to say thank you." she made sure to put emphasize on the second half of her statement.

"So, what's this about a compliment?" Tenten teased with a cheshire grin. "It wouldn't have anything to do with this cute little outfit, would it?"

"He said I looked... Nice..."

Tenten's eyebrows rose until they almost disappeared into her hair. "'Nice?' Sakura, this is serious, he could be in love with you." the way in which she spoke made it clear she was poking fun at the rosette.

"Tenten!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." the brunette chuckled.

She knew that Sakura was completely inexperienced with boys, not that she was any better having only gone out on a few dates herself, and thus this sort of behavior was expected since she was so used to the unbiased rejection she received from her long time crush and it didn't help that the only boy who had shown any interest in her looked like... Well, Lee. Therefore, it was only natural that she be completely lost on what to do when someone like Naruto seemed to show an interest in her.

"But, seriously, though, it might be possible that he likes you." Spoke the brunette, making Sakura's grow wide. "I mean, judging by what you've said, maybe the reason he offered to watch Moegi and let you come here is because he likes you and is hoping this helps you think about him in a better light."

"But-But that can't be possible." the guy who just so, coincidentally, happened to smile at her every time her stomach felt fuzzy _couldn't_ like her. He just couldn't because... Because... "We fight all the time!"

"He seems to behave like Kiba sometimes." Tenten answered. "Maybe he bugs the girls he likes just like Kiba does, too."

Sakura didn't know how she was supposed to react. In the end she merely settled on looking away, muttering, "Why is this happening to me," under her breath.

"Listen, why don't we just go out and hang out with everyone before you have to go." Tenten suggested after glancing at Kiba's digital clock that read seven forty-eight. Sakura nodded and together they left the room.

* * *

"Thanks again for giving me a ride, Yamato-san." Sakura said as she closed the door, carrying a pizza box. The brown haired man smiled at her as he juggled with the rest of the boxes before closing his car with his foot.

"Don't thank me, Sakura; it was Naruto's idea." he replied as they walked towards their homes, having parked a few houses away. "So did you have fun or was the party boring?"

Sakura smiled, reminiscing about the short while she got to be around her friends. "I had a lot of fun." she paused as she thought of the smiling blond who had made it possible for her to even go. And then, inevitably, mind wandered to her conversation with Tenten.

At the party she had pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she had fun with everyone—with the way everyone was when they were all together it was almost impossible to not smile and laugh—but now she had been thrust back on-top of her problem at hand. How was she going to handle being around the blond teen now, when her mind would analyze every word he spoke to see if he was trying to make a pass at her or, worse, make up overly romantic reasons behind his every action.

Sakura couldn't help but mentally groan when they reached their homes and Yamato walked away to his front door, leaving her to walk down the small alley between their buildings.

"Naruto-nii, why are you wearing shades at night?" Moegi's voice echoed down the alley.

"Why; don't I look good in them?" Naruto's playful voice followed, and Sakura could almost hear his teasing grin. What followed next was a jumbled mass of words eerily reminiscent of the rosette's own mumblings when she was flustered.

"Argh! Where are Yamato and your girlfriend with the pizzas?" Konohamaru shouted annoyingly.

"Naruto-nii is not Sakura-nee's boyfriend!"

"No one's talking to you!"

"Hey, don't yell." Sakura ordered as she stepped into the backyard.

"I wouldn't be yelling if you didn't take forever with the food!"

"I don't care what your excuse; apologize or I won't give you a slice."

"You can't do that!"

"Did you forget I'm the one holding the pizza?" Sakura said as she set the box down on the small table on her half of the backyard. She then turned to glare at Konohamaru.

Normally Konohamaru would've made a fuss about being forced to apologize but at the moment his hunger overruled everything else.

"Sorry for yelling at you, Moegi-chan." was all he said as he ran over to the food followed by Udon, who had been lying down on the ground. Moegi simply nodded in acceptance of his apology before she, too, went to grab a slice.

Sakura hesitantly walked over to Naruto carrying two slices, one of which she offered to him. "Thank you, again, for letting me go to Kiba's party."

"I take it it was fun, then?" Naruto asked with a smile, a smile that affected Sakura far more than it had just an hour ago.

"It was really fun." Sakura replied softly before adding, "Maybe next time you could join us..."

"Let's hope I don't get grounded next time, then, huh?" Naruto grinned, surprising her that he had even heard her with how low she had spoken.

* * *

Later that night, Sakura sat in her bed, recalling what happened when her parents returned and found their daughter in the backyard with a boy. Her father had, of course, been angry and disappointed at her for having invited a boy over when she was supposed to be babysitting Moegi, who was sleeping on the couch in the living room at the time, having gotten drowsy after eating.

Naruto had quickly assured her father that Sakura hadn't invited him but that he had come to Yamato's party and stepped out for a second when Sakura had come out as well.

Her father had then ordered her to head inside, leaving Naruto alone with the two preteens. It was at that point that her mother had decided to approach her.

_"He had no reason to get angry, mom, we were just hanging out." Sakura fumed. Her mother sighed from her spot at the doorway._

_"You know how your father is when it comes to you, honey." Sakura knew exactly what her mother was talking about._

_When Sakura was four her mother had been five months pregnant when she'd had an accident while they attended one of her father's soccer games (She intercepted a poorly kicked ball that was heading for Sakura. The impact, however, had been powerful enough that she lost the child.) and ever since he father had been very protective of her mother and her; especially her since he blamed himself as the reason his child had never been born, having tried to steal the ball only to simply knock the man off balance, which resulted in the poor kick._

_"I know, mom, but the fact that he didn't even hesitate to accuse me is what gets me mad."_

_"He'll cool down by tomorrow and I'm sure he'll apologize then." Her mother assured her before moving to sit behind Sakura on her bed, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Now that that's cleared up, just who was your handsome friend?"_

_"Mom!" At the intensity of her daughter's blush she decided to take a guess._

_"Wait a minute... Why do I feel like I already know who that was?" her mother teased, using the shade of her daughters blush as an indicator to see if she was on the right track. "Hm... Blond hair... Shades... Constant smile... Whisker marks... Sakura, was that Naruto?"_

_"M-maybe."_

_"So it was, huh? Well I can see why you're developing a crush on him. He's quite the looker."_

_"I am not!" Sakura's shriek fell on deaf ears as her mother was already leaving, giggling the whole way out._

Sakura was brought out of her musings when she felt something shifting around between her legs. Looking down she noticed her kitten trying to make itself comfortable in the space between her legs.

Deciding that her cat had the right idea Sakura made herself comfortable, which meant she had to move to lay down, disturbing her cat. She giggled when it jumped down and turned to stare at her before walking out.

* * *

"You're a sly one, Naruto." Kakashi said when he sat down beside the blond after everyone had left. Said teen turned to look at him with his ever-impassive stare, which the man took as a signal to continue. "Pretend you don't like her but do things so nice that she can't help but think about you thus making her approach you? Genius."

Naruto didn't even bother to reply, having already explained his reasons, twice, and so he just returned his attention to the TV. Yamato walked into the living room, sighing loudly.

"Damn, this is why I hate hosting parties. No one ever even offers to help clean up." he grumbled. He locked gazes with Kakashi and they both smiled.

"Not it."

"Not it!"

"Not it! Dammit!" Kakashi sat stunned. How did Naruto always do that? It didn't matter if he and Yamato were talking or communicating silently, the teen just knew. He had yet to be caught off guard after the first time.

"Alright, Kakashi, thanks for volunteering to clean." Yamato laughed. "I'm going to hit the hay. I'll catch you two tomorrow."

"Naruto—"

"I'm going to bed as well." Naruto cut Kakashi off, knowing he was about to ask him to help him clean, and got up, ignoring his sigh.

Retreating to his room, Naruto took off his shirt, knocking the shades off his face in the process, allowing him to catch his reflection in the small mirror on his dresser, a gift from Kakashi.

It was the first time he had stared at himself after his five o'clock 'curfew' and he had forgotten how frightening his eyes appeared. And why he had created his self-imposed curfew.

_**"God, you're life is boring."**_ he heard a deep guttural voice say as his reflection's lips moved. **_"Why won't you just give up and let me have your body?"_**

_'You're wasting your time. So long as I keep my emotions bottled up, you can't possess me.'_ Naruto replied in his head. He heard a menacing growl before his reflection smirked.

_**"You're just lucky that I wasn't paying attention when you lost control for a second when that wench hugged you, boy."**_

_'Well now that it's already happened once, I won't let it happen again.'_

_**"My thoughts exactly. The next time you fail to restrain your emotions I will not hesitate to take over."**_ it laughed darkly. _**"Until then all I have to do is bide my time."**_

Finished with the conversation Naruto tore his eyes from the mirror. Although he was confident in his ability to restrain the demon bound to him, he couldn't deny he felt a sense of foreboding from the demon's words.

In the end he decided to ignore it. After all, it wasn't as if the demon could influence him by threatening his precious people.

No, it had already made sure to take care of his precious people the last time it possessed him.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

_Author's Note: HOLY SHIT! I can't believe it! I'm actually done! God it feels good to be finished with chapter three... Now I can finally... Write chapter... Four... Dammit._

_But in all seriousness, I have to thank my friends Kyuubi's Naruto and Sakura and Gamaholic for constantly checking on me to make sure I was writing. It was that knowledge that there was still someone who still wanted to read what I wrote that made me pick up the... Uh, keyboard again._

_And I know it might have gotten boring in the middle but I had difficulty moving the story along like you wouldn't believe. If there are too many typos by the time you read the final cut, let me know. I've begun writing on my iPod so sometimes it autocorrects me when it shouldn't._

_As always, a review is appreciated._


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